


Land Before Time: The Order of Leaf and Claw

by AnthroLover



Category: Fairy Tail, The Land Before Time (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Magic-Users, Movie Spoilers, Post-Movie(s), Post-Series, Series Spoilers, Spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-12 08:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 156,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11733765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnthroLover/pseuds/AnthroLover
Summary: A world where sharpteeth and leaf eaters can live together in peace, side by side, as family and as friends. This is a beautiful dream, and there are many who would like to live in a world like that, and make the world be this Paradise. However, there are some who don't like this dream, and who wish to stop it from ever happening. The ones who defend this dream now must fight for it to come true, and make sure that the future will be brighter for all of the dinosaurs. These are th Order of Leaf and Claw, and they will fight against all the dark forces that cover the world to ensure this dream will come true.May the Spirits be with them.





	1. Strange Dream and the Stone from Above

It had been a long day, and everybody into the Great Valley was getting ready for a good night's sleep. Everybody was heading to their homes and walking past the others in their way as they walked in direction to their respective nesting places.

This had been a long day, and Littlefoot had spent most of it playing around with his six best friends in the whole Valley, and why not say, the whole world. He had told them goodnight as his grandparents called him, and he had to go along with them.

Cera went home when her father called, and so did Ducky and Spike when they were called by their mother. Petrie quickly flew back home, to meet with his mother and his brothers back on his nest. And Chomper and Ruby headed back to the Secret Caves, to the place where they usually slept.

Littlefoot soon was heading back home, and he met his grandparents waiting for him, with a pile of treestars for his dinner before sleeping. Littlefoot was glad to eat it, however, it was easy to notice that he was somewhat worried. His grandparents shared a look, and Grandpa lowered his head to his grandson and he asked "Littlefoot, what is wrong?" he said, making the young one look at you "The food is not good?"

"Huh? No! No, it is good." Littlefoot said "I… I was just, thinking…" he said, looking away, and Grandpa and Grandma shared another look, and Grandma asked "What is it, darling?"

Littlefoot first thinking was to tell it was nothing important. But, it had been bothering him almost all day. He was able to forget it when he was playing with his friends, but, now, he was thinking more about it, and it was making him worried. He knew that Grandpa and Grandma heard everything he said, and they would most likely have some advice or comforting words for him to feel better. Even if they didn't, Littlefoot really wanted to talk about it to someone.

He sighed, "This morning, when I was playing with the others, I met a couple of domeheads, and, they talked to me."

The two elderly longnecks nodded, and Grandma said "And what you talked about?"

Littlefoot looked down "They asked me why I wanted to play with a sharptooth." He said sadly "They asked me why I even bothered being friends with him"

The two longnecks nodded at him. They knew that Chomper had lived into the Great Valley for a while, and he had showed to everyone that he was very kind and he had already showed that he deserved to be in there almost as much as any other resident. However, there were still some dinosaurs in the valley that greatly mistrusted Chomper, because he was a sharptooth. They thought that he did not deserved trust and that his place was into the Mysterious Beyond, along as the rest of his kind.

However, there was still a good amount of dinosaurs who thought that Chomper deserved to live in there, and it was enough for him to be allowed to stay. Yet, even some of these dinosaurs told their kids to stay away from Chomper, for they still did not trusted him completely. Most of the residents trusted Chomper enough, but some, like these domeheads, apparently were among the ones that mistrusted him enough to tell it aloud.

"They said that it was stupid to be friends with something that could eat." Littlefoot continued "And they said that I could not be friends with him for too long."

The two elders looked at their grandson, as they were letting him say what he wanted before they spoke, and Littlefoot did continued, "They said that Chomper is going to grow, and that soon will be an adult and that he will be cruel as the rest of the sharpteeth. That he will no longer be friends with us, and that for him we will be only food."

Littlefoot looked really sad when he said that, and after a while Grandpa said "And what they said is still bothering you?"

Littlefoot nodded "Is because… what is they are right?" Littlefoot said, finally looking up at his grandparents "Chomper can live with crawlers now. But… when he grew up he will be too big. What if the crawlers are not enough? What if he needs to eat other dinosaurs to survive?"

Littlefoot sounded desperate as he said that, and this made both longnecks look worriedly at him as he continued "The domeheads said that when he grew up he will not be able to live with crawlers, and he will have two choices: or he start eating other dinosaurs, or he will die starving! I don't want any of these things to happen!" Littlefoot said, and he seemed about to start crying.

Grandma and Grandpa shared another look. They knew how much Chomper was a dear friend to Littlefoot, and how much their grandson did not wanted to lose him. That was why what the domeheads said was bothering him that much. They had made him be afraid of the future. It was one of the scariest things for the young ones, and even for the adults. It was totally normal to fear it, and yet, it didn't made easier when you have to think about it.

The elder longnecks remained silent for a few moments, as they thought about the best thing to say to their young one. And finally, Grandpa spoke "Littlefoot." He said in the gentlest way possible, making the young one look at him with sad eyes "It is normal to fear what is yet to come. Everyone fears the future at some point. But you can't let this fear prevent you from moving on or of living your life."

Littlefot looked up at him "But, they are right?" he asked "Is it really going to happen? Chomper will no longer be my friend?" he asked to his grandfather, almost as if he was pleading.

The elderly longneck looked at the small longneck. He really wanted to say something for his grandson to feel better and to relax his troubled mind and ease his fears. But, he had to say the truth.

"I don't know, Littlefoot." Grandpa said the gentlest way he could. "I really don't know. I've never heard of a sharptooth quite like Chomper, who had in fact became friends with leaf eaters." He said, looking at his grandson "I really don't know what will be of him in the future."

Littlefoot looked down again, and there was a silence, before Grandpa said "But, this might not be all bad." He said, making his grandson look at him. "No one can tell surely the future, so no one can know if Chomper will really cease to be the gentle creature he is now." He said, offering Littlefoot a smile "I guess it depends on how Chomper may choose to live the rest of his life."

Now this had made the trick. Littlefoot slowly opened a smile, and he said "Chomper keeps telling that he wants to teach the sharpteeth to be friends. Maybe he can do it when he grows up." The longneck said, starting to cheer up "Maybe when he is big, the other sharpteeth will listen to him and he will be able to teach them to be friendly."

Grandpa chuckled, as he said "Who knows? It might even actually happen!" he said, lowering his head and nuzzling into Littlefoot "Just remember, that, if the future is uncertain, we don't know if it will be good, but also, we can't be sure if it will actually be bad." He said, offering an assuring smile to his grandson. "Just try not to worry so much about the future to the point of not being able to live now. Okay?"

Littlefoot sniffed, sucking back a few tears which were threatening to come out, and he looked up at his grandfather, smiling "Okay."

Grandpa looked at Littlefoot, and nodded, and he said "Now, finish eating and then we are going to sleep." And, with that said, Littlefoot started eating again, this time, more enthusiastically. He was feeling a bit better after talking to Grandpa, and soon, he finished eating, and wished goodnight to Grandpa and Grandma, and so, they all went to sleep.

Well, the two older longnecks slept all night, Littlefoot, on the other paw, was having much more problems to get into sleep, once his sleep was plagued with the kind of sleep stories that could not let him rest quite right.

* * *

_Littlefoot was into the Great Valley, and there was a lot of dinosaurs passing by him. They all seemed to be scared and to be running away form something._

_"H-hey!" Littlefoot said, when someone almost stepped on him. "What is going on?" he asked, and someone stopped by, a tubehead, and he said "He had gone crazy!" and he kept running, letting Littlefoot as confused as when he asked._

_"Wait!" he said, but the tubehead had already ran away "Who has gone crazy?"_

_As soon as he said these words, he heard what seemed to be a roar. He immediately turned around, and he saw someone coming in his direction. He recognized it as Chomper. But the small sharptooth was slightly bigger, almost twice as big as him. Had his teeth and claws looked sharper than before, and he was covered into something that, to Littlefoot's horror, seemed to be blood. But, what scared Littlefoot the most, was the look on his face as he looked at him. It seemed the look that the other sharpteeth gave him and the other, a look that they gave only to their prey._

_"C-Chomper?" Littlefoot asked, and the sharptooth seemed not to have heard him, he just gafve him a toothy grin, the red liquid dripping from his mouth, along with saliva, as he approached Littlefoot._

_"Chomper! What are you doing?" he asked, and the big sharptooth said, with a far stronger voice "Eating." And he jumped over Littlefoot._

_The longneck cried out as he closed his eyes and lowered his head, waiting to feel that teeth close around him. But it never came. After a few moments, Littlefoot dared to open his eyes, and to look up again._

_He was no longer into the great Valley. He was into what seemed to be a great empty. There was nothing around himself, only darkness. Then something shinning got his attention. He looked up, to see stars, and one of them shone brighter, as it seemed to be talking "Hello, young one."_

_Littlefoot was a bit scared at seeing a star talking to him like that, but, he answered "Oh, uh… hello… Mr. Star." Littlefoot said, and he looked around once again, and he said "W-where is the Great Valley?"_

_"Away." Was the stars answer "Don't worry. That evil sharptooth will not attack you again."_

_Littlefoot looked at the star "Hey!" he said "Chomper is not evil! He is my friend!"_

_"Really?" the star asked again "Does friends attack each other like he did with you?"_

_Littlefoot could not answer that. He looked down, and the star continued "You gotta admit. He was your friend when he was younger. But now… now it is over. He has grown, and now he is just cruel and mindless like the rest of his kind. He will never be anyone's friend again."_

_"NO!" Littlefoot screamed at the star "No! You are wrong!" he said barely holding back his tears "You don't know Chomper! He already helped us a lot of times before, and he always was there for us, and he was always on our side!"_

_Littlefoot looked defiantly at the stars "Chomper is my friend! He has always been, and I don't care what you, these domeheads, Mr. Threehorn or anyone else says! I'll not give up Chomper, as I know he would never give up on me! I'll still be his friend! And I'll help him remember I'm still being! I'll never give up him!"_

_There was a long silence, as the star seemed to be considering what Littglefoot had just told it. And then, it spoke again "Is this sharptooth so important to you?"_

_"Yes!" Littlefoot said, without a second thought "Chomper is my friend, and I'll do anything for him!"_

_The star seemed to be approaching Littlefoot, as if to take a better look on him "So, would you try to help him with his dream of making sharpteeth and leaf eaters being friends?"_

_Littlefoot stopped for a moment._

_Chomper's dream._

_It was beautiful, that was or sure. Many said it was ridiculous, or that it was impossible, but Littlefoot, he believed Chomper. He believed that it was possible, he believed that it could happen. And, if it did, he and Chomper could still be friends._

_He had made his mind before he knew it, and he answered "Yes!"_

_The start looked down at him, and he said "Yes! I will help him make it true!" Littlefoot continued, looking up at the stars, as much as he did looked up at Doc a while ago, "I'll help Chomper make this true! I'll help him make it happen, and I'll still be his friend for all my life! I'll make this dream come true!"_

_There was another silence, as the stars approached him. For a moment, Littlefoot was slightly scared, but, as the stars came closer, they talked into a softer voice "You are willing to go to the end for this dream, in the name of something you consider important."_

_Littlefoot looked up, as he was starting to notice that the star's voice was female, and it was familiar to him, as it continued speaking "I must warm you: the trip to make this come true will be long and difficult. There will be many dangers in the way, since there are forces in your world that don't want this dream to happen. You will have to fight for this dream to happen. Are you willing to do this?"_

_Littlefoot was a bit scared. However, his appreciation for Chomper was greater, as well as the beauty of his dream. Standing out in front of the star he said "Yes!" his voice denoted bravery that he didn't knew he actually had "I'll fight for this dream." Littlefoot said, and, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted it to be true. Not only because of Chomper now, but also, because this would meant a better and much more beautiful world "I'll fight to make it happen! With all I've got!"_

_The stars approached him again, and they came closer. As Littlefoot backed away a step, the stars were still approaching, and then, the starts started to take shape. It was like an image forming around the stars, with two of them forming the eyes, and the rest of them forming the segmentation of an elongated long neck._

_Littlefoot watched as the stars started to take shape, and they soon make the shape of a female longneck, who looked down at him, smiling. Littlefoot's eyes widened, as he suddenly recognized that longneck. It had been a long time since he had last saw her, but still, he could remember her clearly, since she was the first being she saw in his life._

_"Mom?" Littlefoot asked, and his mother smiled down at him "You and Chomper have much in commom." She said to him "And you are willing to fight for his dream, and I admire this. We all do."_

_Littlefoot didn't knew who were the "we" she was talking about, but he was listening to her. She approached, and she nuzzled him, and he welcomed this "There will be danger on this journey ahead." She continued "We will give you what you will need to fight these dangers. And don't worry, for you will be not on this quest alone."_

_She said, and then she left him. Littlefoot opened his eyes._

* * *

Littlefoot found himself laying in the ground, into his nest, right next to Grandma and Grandpa, who were still sleeping soundly next to him. Littlefoot blinked a few times as he raised his head, his sleep disappearing almost immediately.

 _It was a sleep story?_ Was the thought into his mind. It all indicated it had been just a sleep story. However, Littlefoot did not felt as if it had been _just_ a sleep story. It seemed to be more than that. It made him feel strange. It had seemed much more real than anything else had ever felt, and he could still remember every single detail with perfect clarity.

And also, there was this… feeling, as if there was something far too important behind it to be just a sleep story.

Littlefoot thought a while more about it, when something in the sky called his attention.

The young longneck looked up, and he saw something flying into the sky. It seemed to be some flying rock. It had some blue shine, and it had called his attention. For a moment, Littlefoot remembered about the time they went after that "stone of cold fire", and he looked at it as it was moving across the sky.

Whoever, it seemed to have something different about that stone. He _felt_ that there was something far different from that stone to the rest of the stones. And it seemed only to be confirmed as he saw that it was moving slower, as if it was slowing down purposely. And it moved down, as if it was going to fall into the Valley. However, by the way it was slowing down like that, it seemed more that it was going to land.

And else, the stone itself made not a single sound as it was moving down, and yet, Littlefoot felt as if it was somehow calling his attention.

The young longneck looked at it as it lowered itself gently somewhere far from his nest. He looked at the place it had landed into, and noticed the weak shine that was coming from that area. It seemed to be shining in his direction, almost as it was calling to him, inviting him to go closer. At least, it was the sensation that Littlefoot had, deep inside of him.

Looking back at his grandparents, Littlefoot saw both of them sleeping and snoring softly in their nest. Well, it could not hurt to just go there and check, right?

With this thought, Littlefoot raised up, and got far from his sleeping area, being careful not to wake up Grandma or Grandpa. When he got far enough, he started running in that direction, to the direction where the shine of that rock was coming.

Littlefoot passed by some rocks and by some fields on his way, as he passed in direction to the place the shine was coming. It was a bit farther away than he thought and he was worried that he could maybe not come back soon. However, something inside of him told him that he should go there, as if something was waiting for him.

Littlefoot walked a while, before he finally sighted the shine, coming in from behind some other rocks, with formed a circle around it. Littlefoot climbed over the stones, and what he saw next made his jaw drop.

There was the flying rock, and it was shining. But the shine did not came from the rock itself, it came from the blue flames that were around it. The flames circled and danced the stone, which was different form an stone Littlefoot had ever seen, since it had some kind of shine on it's own, and the stone had a completely smooth surface, almost as if it was hard water. And it was floating lightly around the ground, almost as a flyer hovering above the ground.

Littlefoot stared in awe at the amazing display in front of him. He got lost as he watched it, and he almost dropped from the rock he was standing into, and recovered by very little, and he carefully returned to the ground, where he could continue staring at that rock. Littlefoot dared to give a few more steps forward, and he came near the rock.

Oddly enough, he felt no warm coming out from the rock. He even ventured to put the tip of is tail inside the flames, and he found out that they were cool. They were almost cold.

That was when it occurred to Littlefoot. Could that one be… a real Stone of Cold Fire?

Littlefoot looked at it, and then, the flames seemed to diminish, and the stone itself seemed to be pulsing. Littlefoot approached a few more, and then, something stranger happened. The stone itself seemed to be melting, and turning into some silvery water. This water then moved in Littlefoot's direction.

The longneck gasped, and he gave a step back, but the liquid stone came into him. It started enveloping around his neck, and it started modifying its shape into his neck. It was not hot, just a little warm, and it seemed to be moving by its own around Littlefoot's neck, forming shape over it.

The water enveloped itself around Littlefoot's neck, and then, it seemed to be hardening again, forming a shape around his neck, still covered with weak and cool blue flames. Soon, the thing had hardened completely, and the flames had gone off. Soon, it there was the strange thing that now was around the base of Littlefoot's neck.

The longneck was bit stunned, and then, he looked down. One advantage of having a long neck was that it allowed you to move your head around, and to look almost every part of your own body, save for the back of your own head. Littlefoot could easily see the thing that now was on the base of his neck.

It seemed to be some sort of circle around his neck, made out of the material that now was hard. It circled the base of his neck, and seemed to hug it from all sides; thought Littlefoot felt absolutely no kind of pressing or discomfort coming from it, almost as it was not even there. Littlefoot looked that at all angles his neck allowed him to, and in the front of it, there was some short of image, or it seemed to be. It was carved into the thing, and the image seemed quite curious. It was a treestar and over it, right over, was what seemed to be a sharptooth's tooth.

"What is this!?" Littlefoot said to himself, looking in awe at the strange thing that now was on him, and wondering what was the point of it. That was when he heard voices.

"I think it is that way!"

Littlefoot panicked for a moment, when he heard voices coming on his direction, and he immediately dove behind a few rocks, which covered him completely. He heard steps as the voices came closer to him.

"I don't see it." Said a female voice, and Littlefoot stayed hidden, listening carefully, as a stronger voice, a male's one, said "I'm sure it is around here."

"So, where is it?" said a third voice, another male, this one very closer. Littlefoot recoiled into the rock, hopping that he was going to pass without begin noticed.

"But, the amulets say that… wait…" said the other male voice, and Littlefoot heard heavy footsteps, coming of big paws, into his direction. There were a few moments of silence, and Littlefoot thought for a moment that they had gone away.

That was when one of the rocks was raised from the ground, and Littlefoot looked up, and he gasped loudly.

The one that raised the rock from the ground was the biggest fastbiter that Littlefoot ever saw in his life. It was as big as Red Claw, and it looked down at him with his smart eyes. It then said "What have we here?" and it had spoken in perfect Leaf Eater!

Littlefoot stared at the immense fastbiter, shaking like a leaf, and the big predator looked at him very intently, as if it was evaluating him, and he said again "Well, now that is quite interesting." As it approached the big face and maw, full of razor sharp teeth, of Littlefoot.

The small longneck recoiled in fear, pressing his back against the rock, and then, the big fast biter said "Oh, relax, little one." He said "I'll not hurt you. Matter of fact." He said, raising one clawed hand, and he showed something on his claw, which was very similar to the thing that had around Littlefoot's neck, it was made from the same smooth and shining material, and it had the same symbol of a treestar with a sharptooth's too over it.

"I think we all have a lot to talk about." He finished, offering a kind smile to the longneck, who only looked at the big fast biter.


	2. Return to the Great Valley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being away for nearly four months, Littlefoot finally returns to his home. While all of his loved ones are overjoyed to see him again, the celebrations are cut short when the Great Valley is suddenly attacked. These creatures that are attacking the Valley seem to be real monsters, and Littlefoot surprises everyone by standing up to them, showing that, in his time away, he learned some neat new tricks...

The first thing Grandma and Grandpa longneck noticed early in the morning was that Littlefoot was no longer there.

They were surprised to not to find their young one right by their side, as it happened every morning. At first, they thought that Littlefoot had gone to play with his friends, so, they eventually relaxed, and decided to talk to him later on.

However, they soon had met Littlefoot's friends searching for him, and soon, they realized Littlefoot had not met with them, and so, they realized that no one knew where Littlefoot was.

That was when they started searching around the Valley, all of them, both the longneck's grandparents, as well as his friends; they all asking to everyone in the valley if they have seen him or if they had any idea of where Littlefoot could have went.

After the third day, everybody was already searching for him on all sides, and were formed searching parties to search in every part of the valley for the young longneck. The days passed, and they had found no clue of where Littlefoot could have went. Chomper even tried to track him by his scent with his sniffer, but, he could only follow the longneck's scent to a certain place, and then, it seemed that it simply vanished.

They kept searching for around two weeks, when the parties had almost completely vanished, only his closer friends were still searching for him. They were, however, giving up their searching, and soon, even Grandma and Grandpa had to stop, and they could do nothing but wait for Littlefoot to return.

They were deadly worried, however, Littlefoot's friends told them that their grandson and them had already be into difficult situations, and they had always found out a way out to come back home safely, and Littlefoot was the one that almost made sure that it happened. This was enough to make the two elder longnecks relax a little, still, they were worried about their young grandson.

In truth, even the young ones were worried, because Littlefoot had never been outside without anyone by his side, and the few times he actually did, he got into trouble. They were worried for Littlefoot having been gone for so long in time, and their worry was growing as the days passed, and there was no sign of Littlefoot showing up.

Days passed, and turned into weeks. And the weeks turned into months. Most residents of the Great Valley had already decided that the young longneck was not going to return. There was a lot of speculation about what could have happened to him. Some were saying that the young longneck had ventured alone into the Mysterious Beyond, and that he had ended up as a night meal to some sharptooth. Some said that he must have went for some of his adventuring, and that he probably found some short of problem he did not predicted. There were even some saying that he had actually found a new heard or a new place to live and he decided not to come back, or even that he had decided that he was old enough to start exploring on himself out there.

Yet, there were some rumoring around the Valley that the young sharptooth, Chomper, had actually something to do with Littlefoot's disappearing. Some said that the young sharptooth could have thought that the longneck was food, and decided to have some snack on him.

There were many who publically dismissed this possibility, much to Chomper's relief; however, he noticed that from this day on, the rest of the adults of the Great Valley seemed to be a little more reluctant into letting him come near their children.

The two elderly longnecks seemed to be the only ones, besides Littlefoot's friends, who still believed that he was going to come back. They would sometimes stay awake as they waited for him to show up back, and to run in their direction. And, even with the time passing, and their hopes diminishing little by little, they were still waiting while everyone else had already gave up.

And for Littlefoot's friends, they still had hope, and yet, the waiting was soon turning slowly into grieving. Yet, they waited for Littlefoot to come back. Somewhere back in their minds, deep in their hearts, they could never give up the thought that Littlefoot was going to come back again, and that they were all going to be together.

* * *

_Four Night Circle Cycles (four months) later_

The bright circle was shining into the Great Valley, as the life had moved on after Littlefoot's disappearance. Many, save for the young ones and the two old longnecks, having already accepted that the young longneck would never come back.

But, what was it entering by one of the openings of the Great Valley?

It was Littlefoot!

The young longneck came slowly, walking calmly into the Great Valley, a place that he had not came into a while now, and that he had missed by the time he was away. He walked proudly in there, sniffing the air deeply and sighing with a confident smile on his face. At the base of his neck, was some kind of gear, made out of silvery metal, and in the front, it had the symbol of a treestar with a sharptooth's tooth carved over it.

Littlefoot walked forward, as heavy footsteps followed him from behind, coming from the big creature that was following him.

"So, this is the Great Valley, huh?" said the creature behind Littlefoot, as it looked around, into the entrance of the place they had just gone in. It was full of trees, and had some beautiful landscapes around and even some flowers blooming.

"It is quite nice." The creature said "Not like our valley, but it seems a good place to live."

Littlefoot looked over his shoulder, to the great dinosaur who was coming with him. "You have seen nothing yet." He said with a smile, and the creature smiled back at him.

"I'd love to see this place more calmly in the future." He said, but soon, the smile disappeared and was replaced by a serious expression as he looked down at the longneck "But not now. Now they are probably half their way here, and we must warn the residents before they arrive."

Littlefoot nodded, understanding fully the seriousness of the present situation. The older dinosaur was right, they would be there soon, actually, they could arrive at any moment, and they were going to get everyone off guard. They had to warn the adults as soon as possible. Each second lost was one greater risk.

Littlefoot soon started leading the bigger dinosaur across the Valley, and into some woods and bushes that were big enough to hide him. Littlefoot knew that, if the adults saw him, well, the chances of they actually wanting to hear him would be somewhat low. Therefore, it was better for him to stay hidden, at least until Littlefoot could explain everything to the adults, and explain that _he_ was _not_ the real danger.

Littlefoot just hoped they would listen to him and actually believe into what he was going to say. Four months ago, Littlefoot himself had not truly believed it.

Littlefoot was walking carefully, followed near by the older and bigger dinosaur, and soon, they were in front of an open field, in which there were some dinosaurs eating the green food that was into the ground.

 _Oh boy._ Was the thought in Littlefoot's head as he looked over his shoulder, to the much bigger dinosaur who was companying him. The trees of the woods they were near, allowed both to stay hidden, and Littlefoot knew that if he came out into the open there was going to have some panic form the part of the residents. And it seemed that there was no longer ground ahead that would give them cover.

"Oh no." Littlefoot said as he looked around, and he saw that they could risk going into the open and risk to have everybody to panic and not to hear them out, or to take a detour to stya hidden, and risk to lose a lot of time.

"You have to go." Said the older dinosaur to Littlefoot, making the young longneck to look at him "You go and you tell them."

Littlefoot was a bit taken back. Yes, the plan was for him to explain to the adults about the situation before he showed up, but he thought the older dinosaur would be hidden near, and would be there to happen if _they_ suddenly appeared. However, he was going to keep hidden as Littlefoot was going to continue. What if they simply appeared and he was too far to give him help? Then Littlefoot was going to have to fight them all alone! And he didn't knew if he was ready for something like that.

"B-but…" Littlefoot stammered, but the older dinosaur said "That is an order!"

This was enough to make Littlefoot know that there was no discussion. He lowered his head as he was scared, and the older dinosaur lowered his head to Littlefoot's eye level, and he said "Come on, you can do it."

"What if they just come before I can warn them?" Littlefoot asked, and the older dinosaur answer was "Then you take care of them, and protect everyone."

Littlefoot looked down, and he said "What if I can't?" he sounded scared "What if I'm not strong enough yet?"

The older dinosaur then said "Littlefoot, you are one of the strongest and most talented dinosaurs I ever had met in my life." It's tone was true, and made Littlefoot look up at him, as the older dinosaur continued "If there is someone who can protect everyone in this valley, this one is you."

Littlefoot looked up at the older dinosaur, and he was able to smile, and he said "You can wait here." The confidence had returned to his voice "I'll see if I can tell them before they come." And with that, Littlefoot started running into the open, and the older dinosaur stayed behind, and he was saying "Good luck, little longneck. May the spirits smile upon you on this day."

* * *

 

Littlefoot passed running by the others dinosaurs, and all the while, he was calling out "Everybody! Everybody listen to me!" he said as he passed, startling many dinosaurs who were eating calmly, and suddenly saw a screaming longneck passing by them.

"There is an emergency! I need everybody to gather around into the meeting rock! I mean _everybody_! It is extremely important!" Littlefoot called out as he continued to run. Soon, there were dinosaurs who shared looks, and went right after him, just to see what it was all about.

As Littlefoot passed by the places, screaming for "everybody go to the Meeting Rock!", his cries attracted the attention of two elderly dinosaurs, who were eating from a nearby tree, when they heard some voice that was familiar to them.

Their eyes widened as they looked over, and saw a very familiar young longneck moving at the distance, and calling for the other dinosaurs for a meeting into the Meeting Rock.

"Littlefoot?" Grandpa said, as Grandma was next to him, as taken back as him, but soon, they both started moving, going along with the other dinosaurs in direction to the Meeting Rock, where the young longneck was calling everyone.

Soon, the words of the longneck seemed to have effect, for as soon as he arrived into the Meeting rock, to where he was heading, he was companied by a big group of dinosaurs, who all looked confused at him as he was calling everyone to there.

Littlefoot looked behind himself, as it seemed that he had convinced a good amount of dinosaurs to go in there. Good, maybe he could convince dinosaurs enough to…

"Littlefoot!"

The sudden call made him snap back to reality, as he saw two well-known longnecks coming on his direction, and he immediately knew whom it was.

"Grandpa! Grandma!" Littlefoot cried out as he smiled at seeing them, and Grandma said "Littlefoot!" and she and Grandpa both rushed to meet with Littlefoot, and starts nuzzling with him.

"Oh, Littlefoot, we were so worried about you!" Grandma said, as she could no longer hold back the tears moving down her face, and Littlefoot also had tears of his own, being happy for finally being able to see them again.

"I missed you so much." Littlefoot said, and soon, the other dinosaurs started realizing who was this longneck.

"Is the longneck kid!"

"The one that went missing?"

"He is alive!"

"Where have he been?"

Why he is calling a meeting now?"

Littlefoot barely even heard what they were saying, since he was too happy for finally seeing Grandma and Grandpa again. He was almost forgetting about his current mission and about the danger that they all were in.

"Littlefoot." Grandpa said, "Where have you been?"

Littlefoot finally broke a part, and he saw that nor Grandpa nor Grandma were angry with him, they were just concerned. Littlefoot felt guilty now for having left all that time and never telling them where he was going, and for staying away so much time without even trying to make contact.

Littlefoot knew that it was taking a while to explain to them where exactly he had been, and what he had been doing into the past four night circle cycles. Littlefoot was actually thinking into the best way of starting his explanation, when another voice called his attention back to the present.

"Littlefoot!"

Turning around, Littlefoot could see Chomper running in his direction, and seeing him come at him with a wide smile on his face. Right next to him where coming Ruby, Spike, Ducky and Petrie, they all were smiling at him.

"Littlefoot!" Chomper said, and he arrived at his longneck friend, and hugged his leg tight. And also did the others, Petrie hugging his snout, and Ducky hugging the base of his leg, as Ruby put her arms around Littlefoot's neck into a strong hug.

Littlefoot smiled when he felt all of his friends this close to him. He had missed his friends in the time he had to stay way, and he was more than happy to see all of them again. Littlefoot had actually been wanting to have a long talk with Chomper for quite a while now, and he was almost sure that the young sharptooth was going to want to hear to what he was going to say, and was probably going to like hearing it.

"I missed you too, guys." Littlefoot said, and right after these words, he heard a cry, and he looked over, to see Cera running in his direction, she seemed ready to strike and her eyes were glued on him.

The others, alerted by the cry, got out of the way, and Littlefoot barely had time to react when Cera jumped over him. The next thing he knew was that he was into the ground, with his back pressed on the ground, as Cera was above him, looking into his eyes, with a very pissed look.

There was a long moment of silence between them; before Cera finally spoke "Never!" she said, sounding mad at the longneck "Never, ever in your life disappear like that again!"

They stared at each other for a while, before Cera finally got off him, and allowed him to get back on his feet again. Littlefoo them was surrounded by his friends again, and they started asking "Littlefoot, where have you went?" said Ruby

"And why didn't you talked to anyone?" asked Chomper

"You took too long to return, you did, you did." Said Ducky, and Spike mumbled, agreeing with her, and Petrie said, "They were saying you already dead!"

"And, what is it around your neck?" asked Ruby, pointing at the silvery thing that was now at the base of his neck, with the symbol of the treestar and the sharptooth's tooth.

Littlefoot looked at them as they were all asking all these questions to him. Littlefoot knew that he owned explanations to all of them as of where he had been. And as he thought about how to start explaining, another voice came.

"So,you are alive, huh?" said as he approached, and Littlefoot looked at him as he came closer, with his natural serious and harsh expression, and he said "And why do you ask for a meeting in here, longneck?"

Littlefoot looked at him, and he knew that he had little time, maybe no time at all, and so, he started explaining "I came here to warn you!" he said, his tone serious "We have little time!"

This granted the present dinosaurs to talk among themselves, and to ask to Littlefoot several questions. Grandpa made everyone calm down and stop talking, and give Littlefoot room to keep explaining.

"Littlefoot." Grandpa said "Warn us from what? And where have you been?" he asked again, wanting to know what was going on, and Littlefoot looked at him.

"Well, huh, you see." Littlefoot said, trying to explain as fast as he could "Well, during this time I have been in… another Valley."

This had granted all the others to mumble more among themselves, and made his friends share a look and look back at him.

"Another Valley?" asked Mr. Threehorn, as he looked at Littlefoot. "And where would be this 'other valley'?" he asked almost demanding for answers, and Littlefoot knew that this was a waste of time.

"Look, I can explain later!" Littlefoot said, and he continued "I came here to warn you all! The Valley is going to be attacked!"

A collective gasp came from everyone around him, and there was a new wave of mumbles coming from everyone around.

"An attack?" Grandpa said, sounding urgent, and Littlefoot said "Yes! They might be here soon!"

"Who might be here?" asked Mr. Threehorn "Sharpteeth?"

"Yes! No! Not exactly." Littlefoot said, wondering now how should he explain to them who exactly were the ones that were going to attack them when the time was so against him. "Look, they are going to be here soo-"

Before Littlefoot could finish, there was a might cry that made everyone turn around. This cry was nothing like they ever had heard before, it was something between a fast biter and a bonecrusher sharptooth (Chomper's species), and yet, it was something entirely different.

Everybody looked in the direction the cry had come, and were all scared, as it seemed to be some short of sharptooth that none of them knew, not even Ruby nor Chomper. Littlefoot was, however, much more scared than any of the other presents, for he, unlike the others, knew exactly what it was.

"Oh no!" Littlefoot said "It is too late! They are already here!"

"Sharpteeth!" someone screamed, and soon, the others were still panicking. Littlefoot was as scared as all the others, for he knew that they could not defend themselves from them, not like he could. The young longneck looked at everyone in there, especially to his grandparents and to his friends.

Littlefoot could not let them be their new victims. They had nothing to do with it, and he could not allow them to get hurt. With a fierce expression, Littlefoot had made his decision.

"Stay in here!" he said to everyone, and he said "I'll take care of it!" and without saying anything else, he turned and ran into the direction where the cries were coming from.

"Littlefoot!" his friends and grandparents called as Littlefoot ran past them, in direction to what could be imminent danger.

What was he doing?

"Littlefoot, no!" Grandpa called, and Cera said "Littlefoot, come back here now!" and she dashed after him, and soon, there were some dinosaurs following the longneck as he ran.

On his way, Littlefoot passed by other dinosaurs, who were scared and running away, screaming about "monsters", and not bothering to pay attention to the longneck who was walking into the opposite direction.

Littlefoot kept running, and he was until he sighted the first sighs of them. Littlefoot stopped, as he saw these figures coming closer at him, and he stood his ground, his heart hammering into his chest as he looked at the creatures that came closer.

The others soon followed Littlefoot, being companied by some good number of dinosaurs that were wanting to know what was going on. Cera was into the first line, so, she was the first to arrive near, and to see what exactly was happening. She gasped when she sighted just what creatures Littlefoot was facing, as well as everybody who came after.

They were creatures around the same size of a fast biter, maybe a bit bigger. These creatures, however, did not looked like any kind of fast biter they had ever seen in their lives. The creatures had the head of a belly dragger, into the body of a fast biter, with a long tail ending into spikes, like the ones of a spiketail, and they had small curvy horns coming out of their heads. Their legs were long and strong, like the ones of a bonecrusher sharptooth, and they had long arms ending into very mean and dangerous looking claws. Their eyes were completely black, and devoid of any kind of emotion, and their jaws, armed with long and powerful fangs, snapped angrily at everything that was near.

"What are these things?!" asked a stunned Mr. Threehorn, unable to hide the shock on his voice as he looked at the new creatures, unlike anything he had ever seen before on his life.

"I-I don't know." Said Chomper, as confused as him, and Ruby said "Neither do I."

Everybody looked scared at these creatures, and there was at least twenty of them, and they looked to be eager to kill. Some dinosaurs even retreated a few steps as they were about to run, and they saw the longneck standing in there, in front of them.

Littlefoot narrowed his eyes at the creatures, and he said "You will not hurt anyone in this valley!" he said, trying to sound brave, and not letting it show that he was truly very nervous. "I'll not allow it!"

The creatures snapped their jaws at him, and they started advancing into his direction, their jaws snapping at him.

"Littlefoot!" everybody called, and grandpa said "Littlefoot! Run!"

Littlefoot only turned his head, and he groaned to himself as he wished they had heard him and stayed behind, where it was safe. Well, now there was no way of keeping them out of it, and if he did not made anything now, they would most likely turn into the next targets. So, he screamed "Stay behind me!" and he turned his attention back to the creatures, which approached him, snapping their jaws.

"Littlefoot!"

"No!"

Littlefoot narrowed his eyes as one of the creatures was about to jump over him. The longneck looked at it, and the objects in the base of his neck, started emitting a strange glow. Littlefoot then opened his maw, and a small ball made out of light started materializing in front of it.

When the first of the creatures jumped in his direction, Littlefoot then screamed.

" ** _Light Roar_**!"

And, as he said that, the light which had accumulate in front of his mouth, then exploded forward, as a stream of pure light coming out of his mouth. The beam hit the jumping creature in front of him, and it had pierced the creature, opening a hole into its chest, and continuing its way. Littlefoot could hear a collective gasp behind himself, and the creature dropped to the ground, where it dissolved itself into black dust.

The other creatures hissed and retreated a few steps from him. Littlefoot looked at them fiercely, and he stood his ground. For a moment, Littlefoot remembered that he was not alone, and he looked behind his shoulder very slightly, and was able to see several dinosaurs looking at him with very wide eyes, among them, were his friends and his grandparents.

"L-L-Littlefoot…" Grandpa said, completely stunned ot what he just witnessed "How?"

"I'll explain later!" Littlefoot calls, turning his head in his direction, and Grandma suddenly says "Look out!"

Littlefoot's head snaps back forward just in time to see another of the creatures jumping in his direction. Littlefoot had to immediately drive his body to the other side, and this way, he had to dive and roll out of the reach of the creature.

He avoids the sharp and very mean claws, but they manage to make a gash on the side of his body. Littlefoot winces in pain as he rolls into the ground, and as he gets up.

"Littlefoot!" his friends called for him, as they watched the wound appearing into his side and soon was starting to leak blood, but Littlefoot looked at them, and he said "I'm fine! Stay out of this!"

And he faces the creatures, whom were now starting to circle around him. They hissed at him and snapped his jaws threatening at him as they approached, as if they were ready to jump over him if he made any attempt to escape. Littlefoot looked to the sides, wincing a little from the pain of the fresh wound into his backside, but he remains composed, and keeps a fierce look into the creatures around himself.

"Littlefoot!" Grandma cried, scared that she was going to lose her grandson now that he had just returned. She was scared and confused, and so was her husband, as he looked with wide eyes, and so did Littlefoot's friends.

"We gotta do something! They will eat Littlefoot!" Petrie said, panicking

"Maybe I can talk to them!" Chomper said, but before he could try, Mr. Threehorn said "Enough of that!" and he scratched the ground with his paw, reading himself to a strike as he said "Hey! Stupid sharptooth!"

This made the creatures look at him, and see the threehorn get ready to charge at them. Littlefoot also saw it, and he said "No! It is too dangerous."

"Bah!" Mr. Threehorn said, almost as mocking "Danger is for these freaky sharpteeth to mess with me!" and with that said, he started charging. One of the strange creatures, just one, started charging in his direction also, and it lowered its head and aligned its spine as it was ready to counter the charge.

Mr. Threehorn cried out as he advanced against that creature with all he got, intending to gore the thing into his horns, or at least thrown it back right into the Mysterious Beyond. Then the impact occurred, and the force of it made everyone around flinch.

However, much to the shock of everyone, the impact made the creature don't recoil or flinch, as it was expected, considering that the threehorn was much bigger and heavier than it. Actually, the creature started pushing back, and it was actually forcing Mr. Threehorn back!

"Wha-?" was all the threehorn could say as the creature started pushing him back just with its head so strong that it made his feet slide over the stone floor, and be pushed backwards. Everyone was as shocked as he was, especially Cera, who was seeing with her own eyes, but she still could not believe that it was actually possible that the smaller creature was able to push her dad back.

Mr. Threehorn soon recovered, and he tried to firm his feet into the ground enough to make it stop, and then he could start pushing against that thing and then thrown it back. The plan worked and the big threehorn was able to firm his legs enough to stop the sharptooth from pushing him back any further. He was able to smile at this, as now he just needed to push back, but he had no chance to, because, as soon as it stopped the creature adopted a new tactic.

It used its hands to grab onto his horns, and started pulling upwards, and what wasn't everyone's shock when the creature started raising Mr. Threehorn from the ground, and raising him from it. The threehorn cried out and he flailed his limbs, now out of the ground, as the creature raised him, and let out a cry as it spun round and threw the threehorn to the other side, sending him some feet away.

Everyone was utterly shocked for seeing how amazingly strong the creature was for its size. Everyone save for Littlefoot, as the only thing on his face was the worry for the adult threehorn, and even more as the creature outstretched its jaws, and it let out a mighty cry as it jumped amazingly high, and was just on its way to land right over the poor, stunned threehorn.

"No!" Littlefoot cried out, as he started running past the creatures, in direction to Mr. Threehorn, who was still dazzled from being threw like that, and his features were covered in fear as he saw that creature going in his direction, the claws outstretched for the kill.

The old threehorn was ready to fell these claws digging into his skin and piercing his flesh, but before it happened, Littlefoot stepped forward, and he stood in between Mr. Threehorn and the creature, and he stood there, slamming his both forepaws into the ground and lowering his head, before bringing it up as he cried out.

" ** _Bright Wall!_** "

As soon as he said that, one wall made out of light materialized in front of him, and the creature landed into it. It stood against the wall, trying to scratch it with its claws, but without any visible effect.

"Why didn't you stayed out of this like I told you to!?" Littlefoot said to Mr. Threehorn, into a way very similar in which the adult had himself scorned at him and his friends sometimes in the past. The tone with which Littlefoot scorned at him, in turn, made the older threehorn be more shocked than actually having been thrown by that small creature, Even more than what the longneck was making now to prevent him from being attacked.

The other dinosaurs could only stared dumb folded as they saw the young longneck taking out into these strange creatures with what they could described only as "magic". Many of them were trying to discover now if that was really happening, or if they were having a crazy sleep story, or had gone insane, or both!

The creature clawed and slammed its head into the wall of light that Littlefoot created, before it decided it was not going to break it easily. It made a great leap backwards, and landed feet away from the wall. It scratched the ground, and aligned its spine, with the head with the horns turned to the wall.

Littlefoot instantly knew what it was going to do, it was going to try to break the wall by ramming in it. As Littlefoot saw it, he breathed, and the wall disappeared.

"Hey!" said Mr. Threehorn "Where did it went?" he sounded a bit panicked, and Littlefoot said "I took it down."

"What!? Are you crazy!?" he shouted at the longneck, who ignored him. The creature was still getting ready to charge at them, and Littlefoot only stared at it. He took a deep breath, and he closed his eyes softly, as if he was focusing. After a few seconds, the creature let out a cry, as it rammed in their direction.

"Littlefoot!" Cera called, and the longneck opened his eyes, both were glowing, and he said then.

" ** _Bright Power!_** "

And, as he said these words, his body was enveloped into a glowing aura, almost as if Littlefoot himself was glowing.

"Wha!?" Mr. Threehorn said, but he barely had time to say anything else, because Littlefoot started to run in direction to the creature, who had its horns turned to him. Littlefoot just ran in direction to the creature, and he let out a cry as he aligned his spine and readied for the impact.

Soon, it happened, and their heads slammed into a might strong impact, which made everyone's flinch. But, for everyone's surprise, that same creature which was able to stop Mr. Threehorn and make him reel back, now was thrown backwards by a slam it received from Littlefoot.

The creature flew back, and reeled into the ground, before stopping, grunting as it tried to stand up again. Littlefoot stared at it, still glowing softly, as a strand of blood ran down his face, from the wound that had opened on his head from the strength of the impact.

The creature finally got up back on its feet, and it roared at Littlefoot, and soon, its friends were all coming into the battle, as snapping their jaws as they circled Littlefoot again. The longneck stood there, still glowing, as he looked around to the creatures around himself, and then, one of them roared and jumped at him.

Littlefoot them jumped upwards, giving a much higher jump than it should be possible, as the creature went past the place he was and landed face in the ground, before Littlefoot landed back gently into the ground.

The other creatures then roared, and they all charged at the longneck. Littlefoot then started to dodge the moves, all with a great speed as he was able to dodge every claw swipe and bite that the creatures tried to land at him. After a while of dodging, Littlefoot had finally decided to attack back. The young longneck swung his body, and slammed his tail against some creatures, sending them flying back, and landing into the ground with a thud.

As he swung, however, one of the creatures managed to ram its claws into Littlefoot's leg. The longneck cried out as he felt the long claws piercing his flesh, and he had to dodge quickly to avoid another swipe of claws from another creature into his neck. Littlefoot avoided a lethal wound, but the claws still scratched his neck, opening flesh wounds into it.

Littlefoot was able to dash quickly to away from the creatures, but now he had two new wounds, both leaking blood, and the one on his leg was making it painful to stand and to walk. Littlefoot flinched as he tried to stand his ground, but he was able not to let it show.

The creatures turned their heads at him as they started advancing again, Littlefoot could hear his loved ones telling him to "run!" but he could not. He knew that if he did backed away they would advance and attack everyone. And there was absolutely no was that Littlefoot was going to let it happen.

Narrowing his eyes, Littlefoot focused another light ball in front of his mouth.

" ** _Light Roar!_** " he cried out as he let out another stream of pure light into the creatures, which pierced right into the chest of one of them. This time, Littlefoot kept the stream, and he moved his head around, guiding the continuous stream into other of the creatures, and this stream of light was cutting them clean off. Littlefoot took off at least more ten other creatures with this attack, and they all vanished into nothing more than black dust as they were killed.

The left creatures backed away as they hissed dangerously at the longneck, who only stared at them, as he was now running into their direction. Littlefoot stood very close to another, and he opened his mouth, letting out another stream of light straight into the creature, exploding its head and making the body decompose into black dust.

One creature was able to swipe its claws over Littlefoot s side, opening a gash into the side of its body, which leaked blood. Littlefoot winced, but he quickly recovered, and he aimed another beam of light, this one hitting square the creature, and passing straight through it, and piercing others on its way, before it hit a big rock, and made it explode, sending dust and debris to all places.

Littlefoot then turned his attention to the three of the creatures that were left. They snarled at him, as they started gathering, Littlefoot instantly knew what they wanted to do, and he was not going to let!

He dashed to the creatures, and one of them dashed back at him. Littlefoot had to dodge the swipes and attacks coming from it, and soon, he was able to fire another beam of light form his mouth into the chest of the creature, making all the upper body explode, and what was left standing, soon turned into black dust, and spreaded into the ground.

Littlefoot turned his attention to he two creatures which were left, just in time to seen them starting to merge together.

All the Valley residents who were present stared in horror as the creatures now started to become just one, one creature with twice the size, and two pairs of long arms armed with claws, but, overall, identical to the others.

The creature looked down at Littlefoot, and roared at him, but Littlefoot stood his ground, he was not going to back away now. He could not back away now. This was the reason why he trained so much, he had to fight now to protect the ones who were important to him.

The creature raised its four arms, ready to deliver a blow, and Littlefoot had to easily step aside to avoid the hits. He backed away quickly, and the fours claws slammed into the ground, raising a lot of dust from it. Littlefoot watched as the creature removed its claws from the ground easily, and snarled at him.

"Leave him alone!" came a voice, and Littlefoot and the creature both turned their heads to see Cera screaming at the creature. "Leave him alone right now you stupid and ugly thing!"

The creature snarled at Cera, as if it had understood exactly what she had said. It snarled at her, as it reach out for a big rock that was near, and raised it with two of its arms. Litlefoot's eyes widened, when he said "Cera, run!"

But it was already too late, the creature had thrown the rock over, right in Cera's direction. Everybody cried in horror, and Mr. Threehorn said "Cera!"

"No!" Littlefoot said, as he dashed forward. And Cera, could only stand in fear as she saw that rock coming in her direction. She closed her eyes and waited to be crushed to death. The rock did arrived, and made some noise, but there was no pain. It was followed by a collective gasp from all the dinosaurs.

Cera slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw surprised her.

Littlefoot was in front of her, still glowing, crouched and panting a little from having made a great effort. Over him, there was the rock that just had been thrown at Cera. The young threehorn girl took a few moments before she realized that Littlefoot had stopped the rock with his own body, and not only survived, but he saved her life also!

Littlefoot looked over to Cera, and he asked "Are you okay?"

Cera took a few moments to find her voice again, and she was only able to mumble a "yes", and Littlefoot turned his attention back forward, and he snarled, with anger in his voice "No one." He said, as he struggled, and the glowing on his body grew stronger, and he supported the rock on his head "Attacks." He said, and he raised the rock over his head, using only the strength of his neck to support it. "My friends!" he said, as he finally forced his head upwards, throwing the rock up.

Everybody gasped in shock at it, and the rock raised into the air, before it would eventually start to fall back down. As it raised up, a dot of light materialized into Littlefoot's forehead. This dot grew into glowing, and soon, it was starting to take a definite shape. It grew longer, and adopted an hone shape, and it seemed somewhat a crest, or a horn, and it was almost as long a Littlefoot's neck.

" ** _Light Sharp Horn!_** " Littlefoot said, as the light now had this new distinct shape. The rock then started falling down, and Littlefoot moved his head, swinging his horn, and hitting the rock into a slashing motion, and he cut it clean in half.

Everybody stared in shock at the now horned longneck, who was now staring at the creature, who roared at him. The glowing around Littlefoot grew, and he then dashed forward, so quickly that some only noticed he had moved when he was right in front of the creature. The big creature swung its four arms, trying to land its claws into Littlefoot, which he parried with his new horn made of light.

The sound of their claws and horn clashing was spreading to far away. The creature tried with all it got to slash Littlefoot with its claws, while the longneck used his horn to block and parry the attacks. He was showing great skill in close combat, and it left the others, especially the ones who knew Littlefoot personally, wondering just when he got those skills.

Littlefoot was being able to keep up with the creature, even with his wounds, and he was actually able to strike some scores into the creature, swiping his horn and opening wound into the creature, which leaked purple colored blood. Each strike seemed to make the creature angrier, and it was trying harder to strike on Littlefoot, and it even trying to snap its jaws around him. It was even swinging around to try hitting him with the spikes on its tail.

The young longneck, though, was able to dodge and parry every single attack, showing an amazing skill and fighting ability. He was drove by the will to protect everybody, and this was what gave him more strength than he thought he had. He was ready to defend his friends till the end, and he was going to do what he had to do.

The creature roared loudly, as it raised all four arms, and brought them down at full force against the longneck, hitting the horn, and creating a booming sound, and raising dust around Littlefoot.

Everybody gasped, as they watched in horror, and the dust settled down, revealing that Littlefoot was still alive, his horn was parrying all the claws at the same time, and struggling to keep his ground.

The creature looked rather surprised at him, and then, Littlefoot was able to open a smile. He then let out a cry as he forced the claws back, forcing the creature to stumble back. And Littlefoot used this chance to swing his blade horn, and with two swift moves, he cut two of the creature's arms clean off.

The arms both turned into black dust before they even hit the ground, and the creature cried out in pain. Littlefoot saw there another opening, and he was going to take it. Swinging his head horizontally, he opened a big gas into the creature's waist, making it cry out again. Then, with this, the horn dematerialized, and Littlefoot started gathering light in front of his mouth again.

" ** _Light Roar!_** " Littlefoot cried out, as a might beam of light came out of his mouth, and hit the creature right on the gash. The light continued its way past the creature, as it was cut clean in half. Both parts turned into black dust, and settled into the ground, forming a pile of ash.

Littlefoot was panting slightly, as he was slowly returning to his normal, and he winced when he felt both the tiredness and the pain of his wounds. Looking over, he saw Mr. Threehorn, staring at him as if he was a being from another world. Looking over his shoulder, he saw all the other residents of the Great Valley staring at him, all with wide eyes.

Littlefoot turned to them, his leg painful from the wounds he received, and he looked at the residents of the Great Valley, trying to figure out what he should say or do now. He was focused on them, and he didn't saw the pile of ashes moving, and them, one creature raised from it, right behind him.

The residents' eyes widened more, and Grandpa said "Littlefoot!" as the creature raised its claw high, and the longneck turned around, his own eyes widening in fear as he saw a pair of claws ready to go into him.

" ** _Clubtail Smash!_** " cried a voice, as something dashed past Mr. Threehorn, and then, it jumped in the air, and then, its tail hit the creature, with so much strength that it boomed the ground and created a crater as it raised dust.

Littlefoot was pushed back by the sheer force of the attack, and he coughed up some dust as he recovered, and looked over. The dust soon was settling out, and there was another collective gasp from everyone, save from Littlefoot, when they saw just what exactly it was.

The creature was definitely a sharptooth, it was around 20 feet tall, with strong muscled legs and small arms. It had dark-grey colored scales on its body with a lighter grey for the belly and chest, and it had some scars covering its body, surely coming from previous battles. Its eyes were amber colored, and they focused on Littlefoot. Around his waist, was something that, nowadays, would be recognized as a belt, and it had, in the front, the symbol of a treestar with a sharptooth's tooth over it. Its tail was like the rest of his species, except that it was involved by some kind of orange colored glow, which covered it, and stretched forward, making the shape of what seemed to be the tail of a clubtail.

Under the tail, which had boomed the ground, was the creature that was about to attack Littlefoot, its arm stretching from under the tail, and twitching lightly, before it dissolved into black dust, and went into the ground.

The sharptooth then raised its tail from the ground, and soon, the clubtail's tail dissolved, leaving its tail back to normal, and then, the sharptooth looked at Littlefoot, and then, for everyone's surprise, it spoke in leaf eater "What is rule number nine again?"

Littlefoot looked at the adult sharptooth, without any sign of fear, and he sighed, as he said "Never drop your guard, even if it seems that the battle is over." The sharptooth nodded, and his eyes turned to the rest of the residents, who stared at him, and he said "Hello, guess we don't know each other yet. My name is Terry."


	3. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the amazing fight with the creatures, Littlefoot now has to explain to the others who is that mysterious sharptooth who just appeared and how he got into the valley. The young longneck will also explain how he can do the things that he does and where he has been recently, as well as the events that had led to what just happened, and the reason why he came back.

There was a long and unnerving silence as everybody stared at the big sharptooth who had just spoken to them.

The day was really taking a very strange path, considering it had started as normal as any other day into the Great Valley.

Firstly, the longneck who had been missing for four night circle cycles suddenly reappeared, and he convoked a meeting in the Meeting Rock to tell everyone that the Great Valley was going to be attacked. Soon after that, appear those strange creatures that were unlike anything they had ever seen in their lives, and they threaten to destroy the Valley. As if it was not enough, the young longneck started to fight them with some short of "magical powers", and the creatures destroyed disappeared into black dust.

As if itself was not strange enough, at a certain point, two of the creatures fused together to form a new one, like them, but bigger, and the longneck was able to defeat it with his "magic". Finally, the young longneck had his life saved by a bonecrusher sharptooth, that somehow had managed to get inside the valley, and now, the said sharptooth was speaking to them in perfect leaf eater, and presenting himself to them as if it was normal.

Littlefoot raised up, wincing a little from the pain of his wounds, and he looked from the dinosaurs, all of them dumbstruck, and back to Terry, who was looking at them. Littlefoot sighed, this was surely not going as he had planned it to go. Well, he had nothing to do now except go with the course of the fast water.

Getting up, and turning to the others, he said "Huh, guys?"

All the eyes turned to the young longneck, and he said "I… I'd like you all to meet Terry." He said, gesturing to the big sharptooth, who nodded back at the crowd of dinosaurs, as he said, "Really nice to meet you all."

The dinosaurs seemed to finally snap out of their stupor as they all started mumbling around themselves.

"The sharptooth talked!"

"Is it real?"

"How did he got in here?"

"Is he going to eat us!"

"What do we do now?"

"The longneck knows it?"

"It is his friend?"

The dinosaurs talked among them, but one small dinosaur in particular, one young blue colored sharptooth, was looking at it, and slowly, a smile was appearing into his face, as some kind of hope kindled inside of himself, and then, before Ruby could stop him, he ran in direction to him.

"You are a sharptooth!" Chomper cried as he ran in direction to him and his friend.

"Chomper!" Ruby said, running after him, but Chomper ignored, and he ran until he was in front of the big sharptooth, and he seemed so happy that he could barely contain himself "You are a sharptooth like me! And you can speak leaf eater! And you are nice!"

When Chomper was in front of the big sharptooth known as Terry, he only looked at him, and then he said "Chomper, isn't it right?"

"Yep, it's me!" Chomper said to the adult sharptooth, a sharptooth that talked the leaf eater language, just like him, and that had saved Littlefoot, what showed that they were friends, and even more the fact that Littlefoot knew him by name. Chomper was so happy that he could barely even contain it. Having a sharptooth adult like that, who had all these characterizes was the kind of thing that renewed his hope on his dream. A dream in which leaf eaters and sharpteeth could be friends.

The adult looked down at him, and opened a smile, he lowered his big head to Chomper, until being in eye-level with him, and he said "It is truly an honor to meet you personally." He said, bowing his head slightly, as if in respect, and he said "Littlefoot told me all about you, and I have been wanting to know you ever since."

Chomper blushed a little, and he scratched the back of his head, and Ruby had reached him, and she was right behind, and she said "Huh, excuse me, Mr. Terry?" the older dinosaur looked at her as she spoke that "How you and Littlefoot know each other?"

"That is a good question." Said Grandpa Longneck, who now stepped forward, feeling that it was safe to approach, and he said "Where do you know my grandson from?"

Terry looked at him, and then he said "Littlefoot is my student, and I have been giving him some lessons."

There was a new wave of mumbling, coming from the crowd as they took this new information.

"A longneck taking lessons from a sharptooth?"

"What kind of lessons are that?"

"He is teaching the longneck how to hunt?"

"Is he teaching him to fight?"

Terry rolled his eyes, and Ruby asked, "What kind of lessons are these lessons that Littlefoot is taking from you, sir?"

"Never mind that!" said Mr. Threehorn's voice, as he approached the sharptooth from behind, making Terry look over his shoulder, and the threehorn advanced at him, as he snarled "How did you entered the Great Valley, sharptooth? Did _he_ showed you the way in?" he said, as he pointed accusingly at Chomper with his snout, what made the young sharptooth recoil.

Terry let out a low growl coming from his throat at the threehorn, and Littlefoot knew that he could not let it go out of hand now, so, he quickly stepped forward, and he said, "I did."

This made everyone look at Littlefoot, and he said "I showed Terry the way in and brought him into the Valley."

There was a collective gasp, and everyone stared at Littlefoot, even Mr. Threehorn, whom took a few seconds to recover his talk, and then he said "You did WHAT!?"

Weeks ago, hearing this kind of reaction from Mr. Threehorn, though being expected, would make Littlefoot flinch, but now, he remained perfectly composed, and looked at Mr. Threehorn with a tone of defiance and self-confidence.

"You brought an adult sharptooth inside the Valley!?" The great threehorn asked as he came closer "Have you lost your mind!?" Littlefoot was about to answer, but he flinched and winced in pain. His wounds were still fresh, and leaking blood.

Terry looked down at him, and saw his wounds, and he said to everyone "I'd like to answer all of your questions, but I guess my student needs to have his wounds treated now."

As he said that, the others looked at Littlefoot, and seemed to remember that now he was bleeding. His friends rushed to his side, as well as his grandparents, but Terry was the one that picked Littlefoot in his small arms, and then started carrying him to the Meeting Rock.

"Now, if some of you would be find enough to bring me some clean leaves, come clean water, and also some vines and herbs, I'll treat these wounds." Terry said as he carried Littlefoot "We have to stop this bleeding.

Chomper and Ruby offered to go search for the herbs he described, and Spike and Ducky went to pick up some water into the nearest lake. And Cera and Petrie went to pick up some leaves and vines, as the big sharptooth described.

While this, the big sharptooth settled with Littlefoot in the middle of the Meeting Rock, with the other dinosaurs circling them, and keeping a safe distance save for Grandma and Grandpa, who stayed close enough to make sure that their grandson was okay. Terry waited until the young dinosaurs came back with all that he requested, and when they came, he put himself to work.

He started by cleaning the wounds with the clean water, and then, he started squeezing, and the mixing the herbs juices, and then, spread it over the leaves. Once he was done, he gently placed each one of them into each of Littlefoot's wounds. This made Littlefoot flinch and hiss a little as the medicine burned against his open wounds. And Terry finalized it by using the vines to tie around the leaves gently, keeping them in place as the herbs took effect into the wounds.

Littlefoot sighed, and Terry said "It will have to do for now."

"Is Littlefoot okay now?" asked Petrie, and Terry said "Not truly, these wounds can't be treated normally, but the herbs will help keep it in control for a while, at least, until the others arrive."

"There was a new wave of mumbling from the dinosaurs around them.

"Others?"

"There are other sharpteeth coming?"

Terry let out a sigh, and Mr. Threehorn said "Oh, no!" this made Terry look bacvk at him "There are too much sharpteeth in this valley already! There is no other coming inside here!" he said, as he seemed ready to battle, and Terry only looked at him for a while, be fore he said "Yeah, you are exactly as Littlefoot described you."

And he looked at the others "And you two are his Grandfather and Grandmother, right?" he asked, and the two elderly longneck nodded, and Terry looked at the other young ones, and he said "And you, are Littlefoot's friends, right? He told me everything about you."

"You told everything about the Valley to adult sharpteeth, and you brought one of them here!?" asked Mr. Threehorn to the young longneck as he came closer, looking really mad "What else, did you told him how we taste!?"

"Do you really want answers, or you prefer just to scream?" Littlefoot asked back, with a tone of confidence that had caught the old threehorn off guard. As he lacked an answer, Littlefoot sighed, and then he said "We are going to explain everything."

This seemed to calm everybody down, and they started taking places around the two dinosaurs, Littlefoot's friends and family staying close to them as they soon were going to explain. Once everybody had quieted down, and even Mr. Threehorn was clamed down enough to stop and listen to what they had to say, they finally started.

"Okay… where do we start?" said Littlefoot, and the answer came as Cera asking "You can start by telling where have you been."

"That is a good idea." Said Terry, and Littlefoot nodded at him, and then he said "Well, as I said, I have been in another Valley." He said, and the dinosaurs around them listened carefully as he kept explaining. "There is another Valley, which is a little far from the Great Valley, but not very much. It is called the Valley of Leaf and Claw."

This resulted into a new wave of mumbles among the dinosaurs, as they didn't knew about this valley, nor had they ever heard about it before. Littlefoot continued "This valley is very much like Great Valley, and has a lot of dinosaurs living in there. Is the valley where Terry was born."

Again there was a lot of mumbles. A valley for sharpteeth? Such a thing even existed?

"A Valley that is inhabited all by sharpteeth?" asked Grandpa Longneck "I never heard of such a thing before." And the crowd agreed with him.

Terry and Littlefoot shared a look, and Littlefoot started explaining "Well, there are a few places where the sharpteeth live in group." He said, and then he continued "But, in the Valley of Leaf and Claw there is not only sharpteeth. Leaf eaters also live in there."

A new wave of mumbles arose, as the dinosaurs all took this information. Sharpteeth and leaf eaters living together? Was _that_ even possible?

There was one dinosaur in particular that was really surprised at this. Chomper could only stare blankly into space as he assimilated what he had just heard.

"I-is it true?" he asked to Littlefoot, making the longneck look at him. "There is a valley where sharpteeth and flat teeth all live together… as friends?" he asked, sounding more hopeful than Littlefoot had ever heard him before.

Who answered was Terry, who said "Yes, we all live in there, young one. Actually, some of my best friends are leaf eaters."

There was a moment of silence, and Chomper only stared at him, and back at Littlefoot, his expression blank. But this did not last long, as slowly, a smile creeped on his face, and then, he started jumping in place "This is so great!" he said loudly, jumping in place. "Sharpteeth and leaf eaters can be friends!"

Terry smiled at the young sharptooth, and Littlefoot could only chuckle at his young friend. He knew that Chomper was going to love it. For this meant that leaf eaters and sharpteeth could be friends, and they could stay friends even after they were adults. Chomper didn't realized it yet, but that also meant that he could still be their friend, even if in the future he would be an adult. This was his dream coming true.

"This is just so cool! I want to visit this valley!" Chomper said, as he looked up at Terry. The older dinosaur chuckled at the young one, and he then said "And you will. But some other day, now, there are other worries on our claws."

Chomper looked at him, along as the others of Littlefoot's friends, and Petrie asked "You talk about strange sharpteeth from earlier?"

"The Hollow? Yes, but they are only part of the main problem" said Terry, and the other dinosaurs mumbled among themselves, and Cera said "The what now?"

"He is talking about the creatures that attacked the Valley." Littlefoot said, and Terry continued "Yes." He said, as he walked a little "The Hollows. The ones who are empty inside, the ones who don't have heart. The ones who don't have soul."

All the dinosaurs around looked very interested into what he was saying "The Hollows don't feel fear, nor pity. The only thing they know is hate and destruction. Some say that they don't even feel pain."

The dinosaurs once again mumbled among themselves, knowing now just what had just been into the Valley, and they felt relived that the things now had been killed. "Hollows." Ruby said "I never heard of this kind of sharptooth before."

"Is because they are not sharpteeth." Littlefoot said, and this surprised the others who were hearing.

"But they looked like sharpteeth to me!" said one in the crowd, and they agreed. Littlefoot was the first one who answered "It is because they were made that way. They could also look like other creatures."

This raised new mumbles from the crowd. "Made?" What did it meant? How can a dinosaur be "made"?

"Wait a moment!" said Mr. Threehorn, stepping forward "Now are you saying that someone can 'make' a dinosaur? How does this even works?" and many agreed with him, and Littlefoot was having a hard time trying to explain "The Hollows are not dinosaurs." He said, granting the others to pay attention on him "They only look like dinosaurs, but they can look like anything, depending on the reason they are created."

The others all mumbled among themselves, and they shared looks to each other, they all confused by this "explanation", Mr. Threehorn seeming to be the one that was less believing it. Terry, the sharptooth, then continued the explanation "The Hollows can be created by many reasons, through different methods."

The eyes all turned to him, and even Chomper, the young sharptooth "The Hollows exist only to serve to their creators, and they will go to the end to serve it. They are no living beings. They are not alive, they have never been alive." Terry continued, as everyone looked at them, and he continued "The Hollows, sometimes, don't even have a master. In these cases, they exist only to cause destruction and chaos. They can be a danger to both leaf eaters and sharpteeth, and that's why fighting them is one of the main goals of the Order."

The dinosaurs mumbled among themselves again. Many of them wondering if what the sharptooth was saying was the truth. If he and this order did fought the "Hollow" as they called them. And soon, some among them were asking what was this "order".

Grandpa Longneck, whoever, was the first to actually ask "An 'Order'?" he asked, looking at Terry, who looked back at him "What Order?" he asked, wanting to know more, and Terry answer was "The Order of Leaf and Claw. Order of which me and Littlefoot here are part of."

The crowd heard it, and once again they mumbled to each other.

Was this Order some short of group? Maybe some kind of heard? And the young longneck was really part of it along with this sharptooth? Some didn't even knew what was an "order".

Terry sighed, knowing he would have to explain it anyway, so he started "The Order of Leaf and Claw are a group." He said to the dinosaurs, who all looked at the sharptooth as he explained "We are a group of dinosaurs which have many goals, like protecting the Valley of Leaf and Claw of attacks, and fight the Hollows." He said "Our greatest goal, however, is to make that the whole world someday be like our valley. To create a world in which sharpteeth and leaf eaters can live together in peace, as friends."

There was a new wave of mumbles, this one was possibly stronger than the others, as they talked to themselves if this was possible. Apparently, the dinosaurs that formed this "order", thought it to be possible, since they were wanting to make it happen. So what? They thought sharpteeth to speak leaf eater and not to eat someone when they first saw it?

Chomper, whoever, looked like it was a true realization to him, and he said "OH, oh! I want to join in!" what made Terry and Littlefoot look at him "I want to help! I want to teach the sharpteeth to be friends too!"

Littlefoot and Terry shared a look, and Terry simply chuckled at the young dinosaur "Well, it is not the kind of group you can enter only by asking to." He said, and Chomper's smile disappeared, but soon he said "But, maybe you can enter someday in the future." As he winked a Chomper.

Chomper smiled at him as he said that, and soon, Terry turned his head back to the crowd, and he continued "Well, this was just the first wave of attackers, and I'm afraid there is going to have more, and they will possibly be more powerful."

A new wave of mumbles ran among every one, as they were all scared that more of these things could come and attack the valley. Terry quickly said "And that is why there are more members of the Order coming to here, to help protect the place and keep everyone safe." The mumbles continued, and Mr. Threehorn said "How can we trust you?"

All the eyes turned to him, and the old threehorn continued "You are saying that more of your sharpteeth friends, who you say to be 'good sharpteeth', will come here. How can we know that you will not turn against us and eat everyone in the first chance you got?"

Terry only looked at him. Yeah, this threehorn was exactly as Littlefoot had described him. Terry looked at him, and he answered "We will not do it, you have my word." He said as he looked down at the threehorn "Though you does seem rather tasty."

This granted a few worried mumbles form the crowd, but not as much as it would worry. The old threehorn, however, snorted at Terry, as he said "I'd like to see you try." To which Terry only replied with a soft chuckle, and he turned his attention back to he crowd. "They will still be coming" he continued, talking about the Hollow "Their master is going to keep sending them."

"And who is their master?" asked someone, and someone asked "Why would someone create them?" and the crowd agreed, asking the same question, and Terry and Littlefoot both shared a look, and they both nodded. Terry took a deep breath, and he started explaining "The Hollow may be created for several different reasons." He said, and the crowd once again focused on him "But, they are mainly created by the main enemies of the Order of Leaf and Claw."

Another wave of mumbles, as they absorbed the information that was just gave to them. "Enemies?" asked Grandpa Longneck, looking at Terry, and the sharptooth looking back at him "Your group has enemies?"

"But, you are doing something so good!" said Chomper, granting the others to look at him "Why would someone want to be your enemy if you're doing something good?"

Terry took a long moment to look into these young and innocent eyes. For a moment, he regretted having talked so early about the enemies. However, it was necessary, for they needed to know what they were going to face if they wanted to last more than a few days. They needed to know that there was danger out there, specially that young sharptooth.

Taking a deep breath, Terry again started explaining "Our order's goal is to make the world a good place. A place in which leaf eaters and sharpteeth will be able to live side by side in peace. But there are some who don't want this to happen."

The crowd looked at him very intently, ears very open to hear all that he was going to say. His expression was heavy as he said that, and so, he continued "Even if there are many around that that share this dream, and our goal, there are some that are against it."

"But, why?" asked Ruby "If everyone were friends, then everyone be happy, and everyone would be happy for being friends."

Terry sighed at the innocence of that age, an innocence that he had himself to lose too soon, and he felt bad for having to make others pass by the same thing. He continued "It is not that simple." He looked at her as he talked, and back at the crowd as he talked "There are some beings out there that simply don't want the dream to happen. There are several reasons for this. For instance, there are a few sharpteeth that believe that the leaf eaters serve only as food. They think that being friends with the prey is foolishness and a waste of time, and they think that doing so would go against our nature and would be somewhat a betrayal to our own species." He said "They think that any sharptooth who becomes friends with leaf eaters is weak and also a traitor, and is no better than the prey."

"Bah! Of course!" said Mr. Threehorn "What else you could expect from someone who lives by eating others?"

Terry snarled softly at him, showing his teeth as he looked over his own shoulder at the threehorn, what made him flinch slightly, ready to attack if needed. But Terry didn't attacked, instead, he just calmed down after snarling, and he continued "These sharpteeth not only are against the order's goals, but they are willing to do all that they can to prevent us from making it happen, and keep thing 'the way they should be', as they say."

The crowd mumbled softly among themselves as they took this new information. Some said that it was natural to fear the changes, and other said that it was just foolishness to want to keep things in a way if the other option would be better for every. Some were even saying that it could be in the nature of the sharpteeth, agreeing with Mr. Threehorn.

"This is so wrong!" said Chomper, what made Terry look at him as the crowd kept mumbling "Why can't leaf eaters and sharpteeth just be friends already?" he asked to no one in particular, his frustration evident in his voice and in his features "It would be so much better if they just were."

Terry looked at the young sharptooth. He was like Littlefoot had described him. In fact, all of his friends and the ones he met until now were just like he had described, specially this young sharptooth.

Terry offered him a smile, and he said "There are some people in this world that can't accept changes, even if they are for the better." He approached the young sharptooth, and he said "But we do have hope that, over time, the changes will happen, and everyone will accept them, and see that they were a good thing."

Chomper looked up to him, and he opened a smile, and Terry smiled too.

"Hey!" a tubehead into the crowd said, making the eyes all turn to him "What about the thing that you and the longneck did back there? When you were fighting the creatures!" he said, and some started agreeing "What was that?"

The crowd then mumbled in agreement, for they all wanted to know just what was that. Because they all knew that normally longnecks were not able to shot light form their mouths and to created shining walls I front of them. And that young longneck had done exactly that, and he did as if it was a natural thing, so, they all had the right of being curious. Even Littlefoot's friends and grandparents wanted to know just how the young longneck was able to do all these things.

Littlefoot shared a look with Terry, and they both nodded, and then, Littlefoot explained "It was magic."

A new wave of mumbles from the crowd, most of them having just confirmed their suspicious, and others surprised, and there were even some that didn't believed it. Mr. Threehorn was one of them.

"Bah!" said the threehorn "Like I'm going to believe it!"

Terry looked at him, as he said "Oh, so you have other explanation to what the young Littlefoot did?" he approached as he talked "So tell me what it is."

This surprised the threehorn, who just looked at the sharptooth, who continued "Go on, you don't think that it was magic? So tell me what is your opinion about what was that. Go on, I'm listening."

There was a long silence as Mr. Threehorn just realized that he could not. Even if he refused to believe into magic and all this mumbo-jumbo, he could not find any other explanation to what he had just witnessed, along with everyone else. After looking to the sharptooth in silence for a few moments, the threehorn just looked away. Many were really surprised that someone had actually won an arguing with the threehorn, and left him unable to give an answer.

Grandpa Longneck stepped forward, and then he said "So, it was magic?" his grandson and the sharptooth both looked at him, but Grandpa was focusing his attention to the sharptooth as he spoke "You have been teaching magic to my grandson?"

Terry looked at him, and he nodded, as he said "Well, you can say I have. But, I have been merely teaching him how to control his own magic and to use it in battle." He turned to look at Littlefoot "Something that he did very well today, despite his small distraction at the end."

Littlefoot smiled and blushed a little as he received a compliment from the big sharptooth. Petrie flew next to the longneck, and he said, looking at the sharptooth "So, you teach magic to everyone?" he sounded a bit helpful, and soon, Granma said "You say you teach Littlefoot the magic he already had?"

Littlefoot was the one who answered "Well, you see, Terry had been teaching me to fight using magic, and to control it."

"You mean that you already had it?" asked Ducky, and Littlefoot said "Yes. No. I mean… is, kind of complicated."

"Each creature has its own magic inside of itself." Said Terry, granting the looks to go back at him "Each creature who has a soul has its own magic inside itself, but only a few of them can awaken and use the power that lays inside of them, and it manifests as some short of magic."

The crowd mumbled once more, they all talking about this thing of everyone having magic inside of them. Was it true? Did they all could do magic? This talk was taking very interesting ways, and the more the sharptooth explained, the more it seemed to raise new questions for which everyone wanted answer.

Soon, Littlefoot took the task of proceeding with explanation, and he spoke to everyone "We all have some short of magic, and it is different for everyone. You see, my magic is of light." He said, and he made a gesture with his tail, creating a dot of light in the tip of it, and it left a trial of light on its path, and soon, it formed the image to a treestar. Everybody looked in admiration at it, and soon, the image dissipated, and Littlefoot said "And Terry's magic is of Dinosaur Spirit."

There were now a few confused mumbles about it.

"Dinosaur spirit?" asked Grandpa longneck as he came closer "What does this means?"

Terry looked at him and he said "It means that I can canalize the spiritual power of other dinosaurs, and use it into a fight, like this." He said as he raised his tail, and focused, and soon, a light started forming around his tail, and it stretched, forming what seemed to be a ghostly tail, which had the shape of a clubtail's tail.

All the dinosaurs looked amazed at this, and Terry swung the new tail around a bit, before it dissipated into fog. "This magic allows to manifest this spiritual energy as parts of other dinosaurs' bodies, like you just saw, and I canalize their power and their abilities to help me fight my battles." Explained Terry, and the crowd mumbled in amazement.

Some of them found it amazing, some said it was awesome that someone was able to do something like that, others said that it that it was scary that a sharptooth was able to do it and probably use it to hunt them down. There were diverging opinions about it, and yet, everybody was very amazed for knowing that there were dinosaurs out there that were able to do magic.

Terry let they talk among themselves, not having any need to actually rush them, before someone asked "And you can teach anyone to have magic?"

Terry looked at the crowd as many looked expectantly at him, and soon, he said "Though all beings have their own magical power inside of them, not all of them are able to awaken their power and do magic." This disappointed many of the ones which were there, especially the younger ones, who had hope of being able to do magic by themselves. "For wakening your magic inside, and to be able to use it, you may need one of these." He finished, pointing to the silvery material that was around his waist, and which had the symbol of the treestar with the sharptooth's tooth over it.

They all looked at it, and some of them noticed that the thing around his waits had the same symbol that was on the thing that the young longneck had around the base of his neck.

"Hey!" said Chomper "Littlefoot, you are using one of these too!" he said, and the longneck looked at him and nodded.

"So this is what it is for!" said Cera, and she examined the silvery thing near, as if to see what was the true secret over it. And, as she did, another dinosaur asked "What are these things?"

"Are they magic?" another one asked

"So, you just put one of these on and you can do magic?" someone asked, a clubtail.

"How do you get one of these?"

"They are some kind of rock?"

"These symbols in them are natural?"

"Where do you find them?"

There were these and much more questions, most of them coming from curious dinosaurs, and some coming from dinosaurs who wanted to have one so they would be magic too. After a while, Terry soon had to raise his voice.

"People. People. Gentlemen! Quiet!" he finally blurted out, half shouting and half roaring, and this was enough to make everyone go quiet as they looked at him. Terry sighed, and he quickly recomposed himself, and he started explaining "These are our amulets." He said "They are given to each member of the order of leaf and claw, and they allow us to tap on the energy inside ourselves, and manifest it as our magic."

The crowd listened carefully, and Terry continued his explanation "The symbol in the amulets, the treestar with the sharptooth's tooth, is the symbol of the Order of Leaf and Claw. It represents the leaf eaters and sharpteeth union and their dream for a better world. The amulets are reserved for the members of the order, if you have one, is because you are a member of our order."

The dinosaurs listened carefully as he explained that, and some were once again disappointed, as they knew now that you would have to join this group in order to have magic.

"So, you keep the magic only for the ones who are of your group?" asked one, and others mumbled in agreement, and Terry was quickly to answer

"We don't full control over who is chosen." He quickly said, what granted him back the attention of everyone "One receive the amulet and become a part of the Order of Leaf and Claw when is considered worth and deserving, and so, by receiving the amulet, it becomes a member, and receives the responsibility of being a member."

The crowd returned to the mumbles, as they all wondered just what they meant by "not having full control", and they also wondered about what he said about the "responsibilities". Soon they knew that he meant they would have to fight these things, the ones called "Hollow", and also the thing of creating a world in which leaf eaters and sharpteeth would be friends.

"Wait a minute!" said Mr. Threehorn, granting himself to have the attention of everyone "If you don't choose who becomes a member of this little group of yours, then who does?"

Terry looked at him, and he looked at Littlefoot, and the young longneck said "The spirits do."

The crowd mumbled among themselves again.

Spirits?

"Littlefoot, what does you mean?" asked Grandpa Longneck to his grandson, and the young longneck started explaining again "The Order of Leaf and Claw believes in the spirits. Is a belief we all have, a belief that the world and all in it is moved by the will of the spirits of all the ones who lived before. They move the world and they look over all of us, the living ones, and so, they try to keep us into the right path, as much as a parent does for the children."

As Littlefoot said it, he stopped for a moments, and he looked to the ground. Some noticed it, and they looked at the longneck, but Littlefoot soon recovered, and he continued "We serve the spirts, and we honor them, as well as we are humble in front of them. We believe that the spirits are the ones that does truly decide who are the ones that really deserve to become a member of the Order of Leaf and Claw."

The crowd once again mumbled among themselves. So, the longneck kid was saying that the dead ones decided who became a member of this order? How did that even worked?

"Do you really want me to believe that the ones who already died are the ones that tell you who deserves to be magic?" asked Mr. Clubtail who was among the ones in the crowd "I'm not sure if I believe that."

Terry said "The Spirits decide who deserve to be a member, and they usually send it as some short of signal." He said "But its okay, there are some who don't believe it in the first time they hear. But I can assure you, they don't chose just anyone. But, when they do choose, they usually send a clear signal, sometimes, they even send one of the stones straight to them." He finished.

The crowd let out mumbles, as they absorbed this information. Grandpa Longneck then talked again "Stones?" he asked to Terry "What stones are that?"

"The stones form which our amulets are created." Was Terry's answer. And now, Mr. Threehorn stepped forward, wanting to know the details.

"What kind of stones, exactly are that?"

Terry looked at Littlefoot, and the longneck sighed. He knew that the old bull was probably not going to believe it, and yet, he had to answer. So Littlefoot looked at him, and then, he said it "The stones of cold fire."

The crowd gasped, and they mumbled even more among themselves, and Mr. Threehorn said "Oh no! Don't come now talking about these stupid stones again! I heard enough of them from these two rainbow faces!"

Terry looked at him "You mean Jenna and Tristan?" he asked, looking at the threehorn, who was surprised to see that this sharptooth knew them, and Terry continued "These two are members of our order, I took care of their training myself when they first joined. They are two good dinosaurs."

The crowd kept mumbling, and soon, Grandpa spoke "So, you mean that my grandson is now a member of this "order"?" he asked, looking at both Littlefoot and Terry.

Both sharptooth and young longneck shared a look, and Terry gave a single nod. Littlefoot looked down at the ground, and after a few moments, he sighed, and he looked up at the older longneck, and also at his Grandma, who was also looking at him. Littlefoot looked at them, and he said "Yeah, I became a member four night circle cycles ago."

The two elderly longnecks shared a look, and so did Littlefoot's friends. "So, it was in the time you disappeared?" asked Grandma, and Littlefoot looked at her, suddenly looking to be somewhat guilty, and he said "In the same night." He continued "Actually, I went missing exactly because I became a member."

The dinosaurs once again mumbled at themselves, and Grandpa and Grandma shared a look as both were surprised. They looked at Terry, as if they were wanting an explanation, which Terry soon was giving to them.

"As I said, sometimes the spirits send the Stones of cold Fire right to the ones who were chosen as members. And this was the case of this young longneck." He said "Four night circle cycles ago, one Stone of Cold Fire landed right here, in your Valley, and it happened that this young dinosaur found it."

"So, you made Littlefoot a member just because he found the stone?" asked Cera "You would do the same if anyone else had found it?"

"If the stone had turned into a amulet by itself to them as it did with Littlefoot, then yes." He said, and this confused everyone, Littlefoot sighed, sand before there could have any more confusion, he explained "The stones come from above as regular stones, and, when someone becomes a member, they shape themselves into one amulet to fit someone's body."

The crowd mumbled again, as they received more and more information, and soon Grandpa stepped forward "This is what happened?" he asked his grandson "So, you were chosen by the rock and then you left?"

Littlefoot noticed that his tone seemed somewhat hurt, and once again, he felt sorry for his grandpa, and Littlefoot said "I didn't even knew what was that." His tone was of apologizing, not only to his grandparents, but also to his friends, who also looked at him, wanting answers "I found the stone, and, it turned into my amulet. I had no time to think over it as other members of the order found me. Stones of Cold Fire appear some now and them in many places, and recoiling them is one of the missions of the Order. They were searching for the stone that had fallen here in the Valley, when they found me."

Littlefoot looked to his friends and family before continuing "They told me to go with them to their Valley, and I did. I thought I was going to only be there for a few moments and go back before you got worried… but…" Littlefoot trailed a little, looking very guilty, and Ducky said "What?"

Littlefoot sighed, and he said "When they saw the powers I had, they said that I should stay for a while in their Valley, to learn to use it."

Cera then turned to Terry, and she said "So you took Littlefoot away!" she was accusing him, but Terry merely looked at her, and he said "This is beside the point now."

Littlefoot then could no longer hold it, so he said "I'm sorry, okay?" he almost blurted it out, catching everyone off guard. "I'm sorry for having stayed away for so long without telling anyone! I'm sorry for disappearing and leaving you all worried! I'm sorry for having stayed away without ever trying to visit you, even if I wanted very much! I'm sorry!"

When Littlefoot finished, he was almost crying. His friends all looked at him, and so did Grandpa and Grandma. The elderly female longneck lowered her head to her grandson's level, and she nuzzled him. This caught Littlefoot off guard as she said "We know you didn't wanted to leave anyone worried Littlefoot." She smiled as she nuzzled him "We are happy that you are back."

Littlefoot was stunned for a moment, but he smiled, and nuzzled her back. Soon Grandpa joined in, and soon, his friends also approaching to hug him.

"We all happy you back." Said Petrie, and everyone agreed with him as they hugged him. Littlefoot smiled as he received this warm hug form everyone, and Terry also smiled, as he saw this beautiful scene unfolding. After a few moments, he raised his head, as he felt the amulet in his waits resonating slightly, and he said "Littlefoot."

The longneck looked at him, and Terry said "The others had arrived already." Littlefoot looked up at him, and he nodded, and he said "There are other members of the order in the entrance of the Valley." Everyone looked at him as he spoke this "We have to go to them." He said, and he tried to stand, and he soon winced as he tried to get up, and the others helped him stand.

Soon, Littlefoot started guiding them along with Terry, Littlefoot walking with the help of Ruby and Spike, and Terry walking near, with many other curious dinosaurs near.

As they walked, Terry cast one last glance over the young sharptooth called Chomper, who walked near Littlefoot, looking worried. This young sharptooth was just as Littlefoot had described him. Terry himself had found it hard to believe when he heard it from the longneck four night circle cycles ago.

Once again, Terry found himself wondering if the young Chomper could really be the sharptooth from the prophecy...


	4. New and Interesting Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Other members of the Order just arrived into the Great Valley, and they seem to already be making themselves quite at home, being received with a mix of wonder and mistrust...

Littlefoot walked with the help of Spike and Ruby, while his friends walked close to him, and so did his grandparents, still worried with his wounds. But the longneck remained strong, and he walked along, with the other dinosaurs following him. Most of the wanting to see who were these "other members" who were coming.

Terry walked near, but at a respectable distance, for the other dinosaurs, the leaf eaters, to remain calm, and not be scared after him. After all, they were not used to have an adult sharptooth near them, and they were still scared of him. Terry could only accept it, and he seemed not to mind as he walked to company the party.

They all walked in direction to one of the nearest entrances of the Great Valley, one that was near a waterfall. Some people already knew it by being close, and they all were sighting it in the distance, right in time to see some creatures coming from the other side. They all entered in the Great Valley coming from somewhere out of it, and they were looking around as they were seeing just where they had entered.

When the dinosaurs came closer, they could see just what kind of dinosaurs they were.

The first was a sailback sharptooth (Spinosaurus), whose body was completely white in his body scales, and had a great "sail" on his back. He was clearly a teenager, as seeing that he was not fully-grown yet, but he was almost as long as Mr. Threehorn was and clearly taller, and his body was muscled, showing that he was clearly strong. His species was known for being the biggest kind of sharptooth around, and for being vicious. He walked on two legs, and in the middle claw of one of his right hand, there was one ring with the symbol of the Order of Leaf and Claw: one treestar with a sharptooth's tooth over it. His ice-blue eyes looked around as he analyzed all that was around him, and there was one scar as made by a three-clawed hand on his muzzle.

Next to him was another dinosaur, this one a leaf eater. It was a horned head (stygimoloch), one species of dinosaur which was related to domeheads, and which somewhat resembled them, unless for the four long horns that came out of their heads and circled it, hence their name. She was clearly a female, and her body was violet with one strip of a darker shade of purple running down her back, with lavender color for her underbelly and her throat. She had eyes of a toxic shade of green, which looked at everything around her with agitation, and she seemed to be smiling as she looked around, as if she was amazed by this new place. On her tail, which moved behind her, there was four "tail rings", which were linked to each other by one silvery line, which allowed her tail to move freely, each ring had the symbol of the Order.

And, by last, came another leaf eater, this one a leaf eater too. It was a threehorn. He was a male, and he had grey colored body with midnight-blue on his back, and lighter grey underbelly. He had bright golden yellow eyes, which focused on the two dinosaurs, which were with him, but also looking around. He was around half the size of an adult threehorn, but his top horns were both grown, not fully, but they were grown to almost full size. He had white stub claws, four in each one of his paws, and, on his front left ankle, there was a silvery ring, with the symbol of the Order.

"So, this is the Great Valley?" asked the threehorn, as he kept looking around, his two friends near him, and then, the horned head suddenly said "It is so coooooooooool!" she exclaimed as she almost jumped in place and danced, making small spins. "It is as beautiful as our Valley!"

The sailback looked around, and after a moment, he said "Yeah, it is good." And he simply remained silent. The Threehorn looked at him, and he said "Oh, come on, Swift, you gotta admit this place is nice."

The sailback, Swift, looked at the threehorn, and he said "I didn't said it wasn't." and he said nothing more, while the threehorn only sighed, and smiled softly as he shook his head. He knew that the sailback was like that, and was probably not going to change. While this, the horned head only kept laughing and running around, making some spins.

"This is so coooooool!" she said as she jumped around, admiring the place around her. Only when she was spinning, she noticed the group of dinosaurs that was coming in their direction, and she exclaimed "Hey, look! They are waiting for us!" and she dashed in direction to the group.

The two shared a look, and they both rolled their eyes before running after her, the sailback seeming slightly annoyed while the threehorn had a coy smile on his lips.

"Nettle! Wait up!" called Swift, and he and the threehorn went after her, and she kept running, and she screamed to the bigger group of dinosaurs "Hello there!" she said to them.

Littlefoot smiled when he saw her coming, and he screamed back "Hey! Nettle!"

The horned head's eyes fixated in the young longneck, and her already big smile (if it was possible) became even bigger. "Littlefoot!" she screamed as she ran in his direction, her arms open, and the two other dinosaurs coming after her.

She seemed to have even forgotten about the other ones, and she went straight to to Littlefoot, and she picked him up and hugged him "Oh, Littlefoot! My friend!" she said as she danced in place with him in her arms "I missed you so much."

Littlefoot winced slightly in her grip as it pressed his wounds, but he remained calm, and he was able even to smile back at her, and he said "Nettle, we saw each other just this morning."

"I know, but I missed you!" she said, still hugging Littlefoot. The longneck was able to smile at her, even with the pain on his wounds as she hugged him. After a few moments, Terry cleared his throat.

This made Nettle, the horned head, finally looked at Littlefoot, and she noticed his wounds, she gasped. "Oh, by the Spirits!" she said, looking at the longneck form all angles in her arms "What happened to you!?"

"The Hollows came." Said the longneck to her "I did defeated them, but they hurt me a little."

"These meanies!" she said, and she placed Littlefoot in the ground "I need to treat your wounds!" she said, and she started undoing the bandages. As she did, the two other dinosaurs came closer, and they both stand near "Littlefoot!" said the threehorn. "Geez, what happened to you?"

"Hollows." Said the longneck "But I managed to destroy them."

The threehorn laughed "Yeah, I guess that they will learn not to bite someone who can bite back!" he said, smiling, and as he did, the sailback came closer, and he looked at Littlefoot's wounds.

"They cut you pretty bad." He said "And I think the wounds are starting to infect." He looked at Littlefoot a little and he opened a smile "Well, lets just hope we don't have to cut off your leg."

"Swift!" said the horned head, but Littlefoot chuckled a little, and so did Swift, as if it was a joke between them. While they did, the threehorn only smiled and he shook his head slightly at this.

They seemed to almost have forgotten about the rest of the group who were with them, and who was just staring. After a few moments, Grandpa stepped forward "Littlefoot?" he said, and the longneck and the other three dinosaurs looked at him "Won't you introduce us your new friends?"

"Oh! Right!" he said, as the horned head kept checking on his wounds. "This one is Nettle." He said, and the horned head stopped for a moment, and waved at them with a smile "Hi!" and she immediately went back to checking Littlefoot's wounds.

"This one is Swift." Littlefoot continued, gesturing to the sailback sharptooth. Swift looked at them, and he simply gestured with his hand, saying "Yo." And keeping a neutral expression as he looked at them. But his eyes almost instantly went back at Littlefoot, as if he didn't wanted to keep eye-contact for too long.

"And this one is Uri." Littlefoot finished, pointing to the threehorn, who stood proudly in display for everyone "The one and only!" he spoke, striking a mighty pose, with his legs spread and his muzzle raised, with a confident smile on his face, his snout pointing at the sky above him. He seemed to be proud and determined as he made that pose, and the group could only look at him as he displayed himself like that.

The group only looked at them, and Terry chuckled as he walked forward, and Littlefoot continued, now to the members of the order "Guys, I want you to meet my Grandma and Grandpa."

"Oh, hi!" said Nettle, looking up at the elderly longnecks "Do you know where we can find some blue flowers with red spikes around here?" she asked, and went back on checking Littlefoot's wounds."

"Nice to meet you." Said Uri, the threehorn, and Swift said "Yeah, hi." As if it was casual.

"And these are my friends from here in the Great Valley." He said "This one is Cera."

The threehorn approached them, and Uri was the first to greet her "Hey, young girl." He said, winking at her, and Nettle waved, and Swift simply raised his hand at her, but quickly put it down, and he looked away, as if he was not minding to give her attention, and this angered Cera quite a bit.

"Don't tell me." Said Uri "These two are Spike and Ducky, right?" he said appriachuing the swimmer and her spiketail brother.

"Yep, it is us, yep, yep, yep!" she said, and Spike mumbled in agreement. Uri chuckled, and he said "You are exactly like he described. " and his eyes turned to the flyer who was flying nearby, and I guess you are Petrie."

"Yeah, me is!" he said, and Swift looked at him for a few momen6ts, and he whispered to Littlefoot "Yeah, you didn't lied, he really talks like that." He said, and Littlefoot could only chuckle.

"You probably are Ruby, right?" he asked to the fast runner, and she said "Hello, Uri. Uri, hello." And Uri nodded at her, and so did the other members.

"Oh! You are so cute!" said Nettle, for a moment forgetting about Littlefoot's wounds, and now focusing into Ducky and Petrie. She picked both and hugged them tight, making they both yelp a little. "I just want to hug and you hold you close to me!" she said as she danced in place, having them in her arms.

The dinosaurs looked at her for a while. Swift slapped his claw on his forehead and dragged it across his face. Terry stepped forward "Ahem." He did, to get Nettle's attention. She looked ask him, and he said "I think Littlefoot now needs your attention a little more than them."

The horned head looked at him, and then at the longneck, and she said "Oh! Right!' and she dropped Ducky and Petrie immediately, and rushed back at the longneck, who was on the ground. And soon she was checking on all his wounds again. As she did, Swift's eyes fall over one particular dinosaur. One of Littlefoot's friends that was left unpresented. One young blue dinosaur.

He looked at him, and he came closer. Chomper looked at him as he approached, and Littlefoot noticed it, and he said "And this is Chomper. I told you all about him."

The dinosaurs looked at him, and then at the young blue sharptooth. "Is he..?" Swift asked Terry, and the older sharptooth nodded. Swift's gaze turned to him, as Chomper looked at him a bit uneasy. And then, Swift opened a smile to him, and he offered his claw "Nice to meet you, Chomper."

The young sharptooth smiled at him, and he quickly offered his paw, shaking it. It was a common way of two legged complimenting each other, shaking hands. The four legged usually don't understood the need to hold each other's hand only for meeting, but mostly of them respected it.

Swift smiled at him as he shook his hand, and quickly let go. Uri then stepped forward "So, you are the famous Chomper, huh?" he asked, granting the sharptooth to look at him, and Chomper answered "Yep, it's me!"

Uri chuckled "Well, nice to met you." He said "You surely are as friendly as Littlefoot here has told." And he turned to the rest for the gang "You all are as he said you were."

"How can you tell?" asked Cera "You barely even know us yet."

"The way Littlefoot talks about all of you back in Valley of Leaf and Claw?" Uri says, with a coy smile "It practically feels like I already know all of you just as good as he does." He said casting a glance at Littlefoot, who chuckled, but winced when Nettle checked on another of his wounds. "Seriously, he only talks about you guys."

"Really?" asked Chomper "And what does he talks about?"

"Oh, just the basics." Said Uri "About the adventures you all had together, about how he met each one of you. About how each of you look like and acts. About the things he likes and dislikes in each one of you."

"Uri!" said Littlefoot, but it was too late, for his friends had their attention call to the last thing he said.

"Oh, so you told to a stranger what you dislikes on us?" asked Cera, nearing the longneck, who tried to scramble away, but he winced due to his wounds and Nettle hold him in place. Only then, Uri seemed to notice he had spoken a bit too much.

"And what exactly you "dislikes" on us?" Cera asked, and the others came near, each one of them wanting to hear it out. Littlefoot casted a glare at Uri, how could only smile nervously, and mutter a "sorry", Littlefoot didn't knew what to say or do now, but, luckily for him, Nettle was there.

"Guys, I'm loving to have this nice talk with you all, but we need to treat Littlefoot's wounds before they start to swell and rotten." She said, barely minding the scared expressions of Littlefoot's grandparents. Littlefoot only wished that Nettle could learn to be a bit more subtle in situations like that.

"Okay, I need some herbs and I'll work on these wounds now. Uri, Swift, could you two be some sweeties and bring me the herbs I need? Are the ones that I use to threat the wounds made by Hollows." She said, without stopping to check on Littlefoot's wounds.

"Sure." Uri said, and Swift sighed, as he said "Yeah, why not?" and so they both turned their backs and walked to the Valley, both searching around. As they did, Nettle remained knelled by Littlefoot's side, and she closed her eyes and she breathed deeply a few times, and the other dinosaurs were looking at her.

She took a few deep breaths, and then, she started sucking on the air. As she did, Littlefoot winced a little, as some short of black fog started leaking form his wounds, and swirling around, seeming to be driven to her mouth.

The other dinosarus watched amazed at her as she did it "What she doing?" asked Petrie, and Terry said "She is removing the infection of the Hollows of his wounds."

"How she does it?" asked Ruby, and once again, was Terry who answered "She uses her magic. As I said, each one has a different form of magic. Nettle's is poison magic. And the infection of the Hollows is, in many ways, some short of poison."

As he spoke it, Nettle kept sucking the air. As she did, the black smoke floated to her mouth, and entered into it. She was sucking down the smoke, the poison from the Hollows, almost as if she was eating it away. Some dinosaurs watched it amazed, others, like Cera, were slightly disgusted by this.

Nettle barely minded them, though, she just kept doing what she was doing, and she was sucking out the poison and gulping it down. After a while, the last of the smoke came out of Littlefoot's wounds, and the longneck let out a sigh of relief. Nettle gulped down the last of the poison, and she took a deep breath as she was done. After a few seconds, she let out a small burp, and she immediately covered her mouth, and blushed, as she said "Excuse me."

Littlefoot smiled at her, and he looked at his own wounds, which seemed a little better now. Grandpa and Grandma inched near, and Grandma asked "Littlefoot, darling, are you okay?"

"Yeah, better now, thanks to Nettle." Says the longneck, looking at the horned head, who smiled at him. She then brought a single hand to rub her belly, as she groaned "Ohhhh, Hollow smoke always makes my tummy funny."

Terry chuckled at this, and he stepped closer, "Yes, it seems that the danger of the wounds is now gone."

"But we still need to treat them so they don't infect again." Said Nettle, looking at the wounds, and she looked around "Where are these two?"

They waited for a few minutes, and soon, Uri and Swift were back. Luckily, they had found the herbs that were needed rather quickly, they both already knew Nettle's recipe for wounds made by Hollow. And also, the herbs she used where rather common, and not so hard to find around.

Nettle took their herbs, and them she took a few things, more, like some rocks, and one rock that was a half-orb and she placed the herbs in it, at the same time that she used the other rocks to smash the herbs until they started turning into some short of mush.

The others looked at her as she did it, and the residents of the Great Valley were wondering what exactly it was. Terry seemed to notice, for he was soon explaining "Nettle is one of the best healers in our Valley" he said, as the horned head kept working on the mush, sniffing it and then adding more herbs. "She knowns how to create medicine from the plants, and form their combinations. It is one of her specialties."

The dinosaurs looked at her as she finished the mush she was preparing, and she gave it a small sniff, and she said "Almost ready. Now, for the finishing touch." She said, and she took a deep breath, and then, she spat some crimson colored thing into the mush.

Some dinosaurs thought it was blood, but as soon as it touched the mush, soon it started smoking some short of pink colored smoke. The horned head than started mixing it again, and the thing was now getting some kind of sickish purple coloration, and was letting out fumes of smoke.

"What is this?" asked Chomper, and Terry answered "As I said, her magic is the poison. And this enables her, besides absorbing away poison and eating it, she can also create poisons." He said "She can breathe and generate any kind of poison. She can both create the poisons that normally exist, but there are other kinds of poisons, poisons that only her can create."

"That thing is poison?" asked Cera, and, this time Nettle answered, "One of those which only I can create." She said, and she finished mixing the mush, and she gave it a sniff, and she said "It is ready!"

And so, she knelt by Littlefoots side, and she gently picked the mix with her fingers, and she approached the longneck.

"Wait!" said Cera, stepping forward "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to pass it in his wounds." Nettle said, as if it was th4e obvious thing to do. Some dinosaurs mumbled among themselves.

"Oh, no! You don't!" said Cera, stepping forward "You are not going to pass poison into Littlefoot's wounds!" Cera said, standing her ground and looking at Nettle.

"But it will help him!"

"How can poison help someone!?" asked Cera.

"A lot of one thing alone is poison." Was Nettle's answer "But only a little of it, mixed with something else, can be a good medicine. It depends on the quantity."

"You should trust Nettle." Said Uri "She knows what she is doing fairly well…most of time."

Grandma and Grandpa shared a look, and the elder male said ""im not sure if this is a good idea."

"It will be okay." Said Littlefoot, granting the others to look at him "I already saw Nettle doing it, and I know this is one of the things she does better."

"You will really let her rub her spit in your wounds?" asked a clubtail, with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

"I trust her." Was Littlefoot's only answer, "And I think you should also."

The dinosaurs share a look among themselves, and Grandma and Grandpa also looked at each other. Grand ma nods at her husband, and the elderly longneck turn to the horned head, and he says, "Do what you must do."

Nettle nods, and she takes her fingers with the purple colored mush, and she gently rubs it over the wound on Littlefoot's neck. Immediately, the longneck lets out a gasps, and he flinches and cries out in pain, as the wound lets out crimson colored smoke.

The crowd flinches, and especially Littlefoot's loved ones when they see that.

"Littlefoot!" cried Cera, trying to reach the longneck, but Uri stops her.

"Let it." He said to the young threehorn girl "It hurts, but he will be better soon."

Cera looked at him, and she looked back at Littlefoot, whom was breathing deeply, and groaning in pain. The longneck looked at Nettle, and he nodded, signaling her to continue.

The horned head continued to smear her fingers into the mush, and spread it over Littlefoot's wounds. Each time she did it, Littlefoot cried out and squirmed slightly as the wounds smoked crimson smoke. The crowd flinched each time the longneck cried out, and they were looking worried, some wondering how could the longneck allow them to do it. His grandparents were still worried, as well as his friends, all of them flinching each time they saw the obvious sighs of pain from the longneck.

It took a while, and a few tears streamed Littlefoot's cheeks when it was done. But, as soon as it was all smeared, and the wounds stopped smoking, Littlefoot finally sighed in relief, and he was able to relax as a pleasant sensation spread from them. The longneck let out a huge sigh as he left that feeling spread.

Nettle smiled once she finished "All done, this will make the wounds close faster, and will prevent them from infecting again." She said, putting the rocks aside, and now, she used some vines to tie leafs over Littlefoot's wounds, making bandages for it, to keep them covered "Now, you just avoid much effort and going into battle for a day or two." She said, and petted his head.

Littlefoot smiled "Thanks, Nettle." He said, and soon his friends were around him. "Littlefoot! You okay again!" said Petrie, landing on his snout and hugging it.

"We got very worried about you!" said Ruby, as she walked closer, and so did Chomper, and the rest of his friends, all of them smiling for seeing him okay. Only Cera remained serious as she approached and looked at him, as if she was worried that the wounds were going to get worse again.

"Good to see you are okay, little buddy." Said Uri, gently bumping Littlefoot's side with his horn, "Next timre you want to get hurt like that you should pick up a fight with me." He joked, and Littlefoot chuckled at him.

"Littlefoot, are you sure you are okay?" asked Grandma, inching her grandson, and Littlefoot looked up at her, and he said "Yeah, I'm much better now. Is okay, is nothing serious."

Littlefoot's intention was to make them relax, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The way he had talked it, with that naturally, made it seems like he had already passed by it before.

"Nothing serious?" asked Cera, as she came closer to him "You were bleeding!" she practically shouted at him "And that… that thing shoved its claw on your leg! It could have killed you! Don't tell me it was nothing serious!"

Littlefoot flinched slightly, and it was Swift who stepped forward, with his arms crossed over his chest "Oh, quit whining." He said, standing next to Littlefoot "I can assure you this longneck has already passed by worse in the last times."

"Swift!" Littlefoot said, but the damage seemed to already have been done. The others all shared worried looks, and Grandma seemed to become very worried suddenly, as well as her husband.

"What? It is truth." Said Swift, as it was no big deal "Or you have forgot that time when you-"

"Swift!" Littlefoot said, and Terry said "Swfit, I think this is a talk to some other time."

Swift looked at him, and he shrugged "If you say so." And he simply walked back, standing again in the background, still with his arms crossed. But Littlefoot's family and friends were already looking at him, looking more worried than before.

"Oh, relax." Uri said, trying to calm everyone down "This longneck already proved he is strong, and he can take care of danger by himself. I bet you saw it when he kicked these Hollows' tails back to where they came from." He finished with a smile, slightly bumping the longneck again with his horn.

Grandma and Grandpa shared a look, and Grandpa approached, and he said "Littlefoot, are you saying that, what you did today, was something normal since you vanished?"

Littlefoot took a moment to answer, and he said "Well… yes and no." the others looked at him, and he continued "I already faced a few Hollows before, but, well, it was the first time I fought any of them alone." He admitted, and Terry said "And he did it quite well."

"Quite well!?" said Cera, approaching again, and glaring daggers at the sharptooth "He almost got himself killed!" her tone made Littlefoot flinch, and he knew that, even though they were not saying that aloud, his other friends and his family most like thought the same way.

"This is the threehorn girl you talked about?" asked Swift, coming closer "Man, she does anything else besides whining and complaining?"

Cera glared daggers at the sharptooth "And you stay out of this!"

"Or what?" he asked, walking closer "What you will do if I don't?" he kept walking closer, lowering his head to be in her eye level. Cera flinched a bit when she saw the cold look in his eyes, but she quickly recovered, sand she said "And you, stay out of this, rockhead!"

"Cera!" Littlefoot said, and Swift's eyes narrowed at her.

"I, a rockhead?" he said, coming even closer to Cera, and he said "Well, I'll just say that it takes one to recognize the other."

"Do you want to fight?" asked Cera

"I didn't planned do it today. But if you want…" he said, baring his teeth slightly, and growling at Cera. Littlefoot quickly was able to put himself between them "Guys, stop that!" he said, doing his best to break them apart. The last thing he needed now was that they started a fight.

"You stay away of my daughter!" Threatened Mr. Threehorn as he looked at Swift. The sharptooth raised his eyes at him, and he said "So, you will fight me in her place? Its fine by me." He said, raising one of his claws, and one of them started letting out a slightly shine.

"Enough!" Terry practically roared, making everyone flinch and look at him. "We don't came here to start a fight with anyone of the residents of this valley!" he said, looking at Swift "We came here exactly with the opposite purpose. We came here to protect them."

Swift only kept looking at him, as he continued, after taking a deep breath "Swift, we must avoid having this kind of situation. This is for all of us." He said, looking at the sailback.

"Then why are you looking only at me?" he asked, with a defiant tone, as he kept his claw raised. Terry looked back at him, and he said "Because, in this moment, you seems to be the most inclined to do it."

They both kept the staring contest for a few moments, before Swift finally sighed, and he lowered his claws, the shine disappearing from them, and he crossed his arms over his chest again. And he simply stood there, looking grumpy, and Littlefoot could digh in relief as a situation had just been avoided.

"So, as I was saying" continued Terry, looking back at the residents of the Great Valley "We are to help, and we don't want to cause you any kind of problem."

"Then why you kidnaped Littlefoot!?" demanded Cera, and the crowd mumbled into agreement.

"We already explained that." Said Terry "Littlefoot found out one Stone fo Cold Fire, and he got his Amulet, and then, he had to come to our Valley."

"And you forbade him from coming back?" she asked, and the crowd mumbled in agreement. Terry looked at Littlefoot, and the longneck looked back at him. Terry let out a long sigh.

"The original plan was to bring Littlefoot to our Valley, only to see what his talents were, and we would bring him back before you all woke up in the morning." He sid, and the dinosaurs listened to him.

"But you didn't do it." Said Cera, and Terry looked at her, before continuing.

Terry looked at her for a few moments, and then his look went to the ground, he seemed to be very slightly embarrassed. And so was Littlefoot, as the longneck also looked at the ground. After a while, Terry finally started talking again.

"A group of our Order took Littlefoot to our Valley." He said "Once there, we needed to make some tests, to see what kind of abilities Littlefoot had." He continued, looking at the young longneck "Once there, we saw that Littlefoot's specific magic, was the light."

His head turned at the residents, and he continued "You see, there are different kinds of magic, and the Light Magic is one of the rarest kinds." He said "Not only it has great power and can be used for a variety of purposes, as well as it is extremely powerful against the forces of darkness. What includes the Hollow."

The others listened carefully to what he was saying, and the big sharptooth continued his explanation "When we saw that Littlefoot not only had such a rare form of magic, but also that he had great potential to it, we had to start training him right away." He looked slightly at Littlefoot "Recently the Hollow had been too much active, and they have been acting in several places. So, in such a situation, we needed the best warriors we could find. So, we needed Littlefoot, and his powers."

There was a few mumblings, as the crowd absorbed this information, and especially from Littlefoot's friends, who shared looks. Cera was still glaring at the big sharptooth, but it was Grandpa Longneck who stepped forward.

"So, you decided to take my grandson, and train him for being your warrior?" he asked. There was no anger on his tone, just that worried inquisition of someone who is worried about the family. Terry looked at him for a while, and he said "We gave Littlefoot the choice of staying in our Valley and training, or going back at home." He explained.

Littlefoot then stepped forward. "I had to do it." He said, and the others all looked at him. The small longneck sighed, and he said "They explained to me that my abilities could be important, and that the Hollows would threaten the whole world if we let them."

The crowd was focused on Littlefoot "They also explained me that, if the Hollows were used by anyone, the reasons would surely not be the best." He looked at them, looking guilt "I'm sorry I had to be away like that, and leave you all worried. But, after all they told me, I thought, what would happen if the Hollows some how were controlled by someone who wanted to hurt my friends or family?"

The crowd looked at him, and he said. "What if it was someone who would hurt other innocent dinosaurs? What if this someone would put all that I loved in danger?" he finally raised his head "So, I decided that I needed to learn to fight them. To protect the ones who are important to me."

The crowd looked at him, and he looked at the ground again "I'm sorry." He said, unable to look up "I'm sorry for leaving you all worried about me, and for not telling where I was going and leaving for so long." He said, and a single tear escaped his eye "I'm really sorry for this."

There was a moment of silence, and then, Grandma lowered her head, and nuzzled her grandson "It is okay." She said, soothing him, and making him look at her "The important is that you are back now." She said as she kept nuzzling her. And soon, her husband also joined in.

Littlefoot was left speechless for a moment, and then, he nuzzled them back.

"Ohhhh, that is so cute!" said Nettle, who was watching the whole time. Uri, who was by her side, only smiled, and Swift, was still with his arms crossed, and he said nothing, nor showed any smile. Terry smiled softly at that beautiful scene. This brought him a lot of memories.

"You have the right to want your grandson near you." Terry said, walking closer "I have a granddaughter myself, and I know how I would feel if someone took her away for me for so long."

Grandpa looked at him, and nodded, and Mr. Threehorn than said "So, what these 'Hollows' are doing here now?"

The crowd mumbled in agreement at the threehorn "What they want here? Do _you_ have something to do with it?"

Swift growled, baring his teeth at the threehorn, for a moment it even seemed that he was going to advance, but Uri got on his way, holding him back. Terry looked a the threehorn, and he said "Recently we have discovered that the Hollows were being sent by someone to attack your Valley. We followed the track, and we were able to come here before they did."

The crowd mumbled once again.

Attacking the Great Valley!?

It meant that more of them would come? They were going to be in bigger numbers?

"But, why they attacking Great Valley?" asked Petrie, holding on into Littlefoot's neck as his poor life depended on it. Littlefoot looked up at Terry, and the sharptooth, in turn, looked back at the longneck, after a moment, he said "We don't know yet."

His tone was natural, and his expression was unreadable, but Mr. Threehorn had noticed the way he and Littlefoot shared a look, and he saw that now the longneck was looking slightly worried and also guilty, as if he knew something.

"What we know, is that more of them will come." He said, his words confirming the worst fears of the rest of the residents "And that is why we are here." He finished "To protect this Valley and everyone who lives in here."

"You can bet on it!" said Uri, stepping forward "I'd like to see these freaks try to put the foot in here to see what will happen to them!"

The crowd seemed to approve this, as some of them mumbled positively. Mr. Threehorn, however, was still no fully convinced, and still, he gave glares to Terry and to Littlefoot as the others were talking to them.

"So, Littlefoot magic now?" asked Petrie, flying closer top Littlefoot's head and landing on top of it.

"Yeah, kind of." Was the longneck's answer, as he smiled at his small flyer friend.

"This is so great! It is! It is!" said Ducky, and Spike mumbled an agreement as he nodded his head.

"You can make other things like what you did into there?" asked Chomper, looking very hyperactive.

"Well, I can do some other things, but I'm still training to learn how to do them right." Was Littlefoot's answer "I need to dedicate to learn to use magic."

"Magic seems like a great thing to do." Said Ruby, walking closer "And if you want to do a great thing right, it makes sense that you have to practice to do the great thing, so you can do this great thing."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Littlefoot said as his friends kept circling him, and asking a lot more of questions. Cera, whoever, kept certain distance, and she looked at Littlefoot, and back at the other members of the Order, and at her own father, whom seemed to be very much suspicious. He had that very famous mistrusting expression on his face, and Cera too thought that he was right for having it. She also had took this story with a grain of salt, and the way Terry looked at Littlefoot before saying that...

There was something in the whole story that was not well explained.

"So, I guess we can discuss the details about it, right?" said Terry, talking straight to Grandpa Longneck "We need to decide how to make the patrols, and also, we need to find a way to enforcer the defenses." He said "And also, we need to put some vigilance in the entrance of the Valley, in case they appear."

The elderly longneck looked at him, and he nodded "Yes, this indeed seems like a good idea."

Terry nodded, and soon, he was walking along with the elderly longneck "And the rest of you." He said before going, talking to both the three dinosaurs, and to Littlefoot "You must rest for now, but don't drop your guard."

"Yeah, sure, we remember rule 26#" said Uri "Don't worry, we are going to be extra careful, as if there was someone ready to jump at us at any second." He said, and got into fight position, as if ready to fight an invisible enemy.

Terry chuckled at him "Just don't overdo it." He said, and walked away, and the rest of the adults followed, leaving the kids behind.

"Cera." Mr. Threehorn said, making his daughter, who was about to go in direction to her friends, look at him "I want you to go to our nest, stay with Tria and Tricia."

"But, daddy…"

"Just do it." He said in a tone that left no space for arguing, and he shoot one last glare at the returned longneck and his three new friends, before he turned around, and started walking away. Cera looked at her friends, and after a while, she sighed, and she turned to walk back to her sleeping area.

The others were busy laughing together, but Littlefoot was able to notice that Cera had turned around to leave.

"Cera!" he called her. She stopped for a moment, and Littlefoot expected her to turn her head to look at him. Instead, she only lowered it, and started running away, as if to get as far of him as possible.

"Cera?" Littlefoot said in a low voice as he saw her walking away like that. It pained his insides as he saw she going away like that. The others also noticed it, and only watched as Cera was going.

"Where is she going?" asked Chomper, looking as she was going away.

"Maybe she has important thing to do." Said Petrie, and the other dinosaurs came near, and Uri, the threehorn, said "Oh, is she going away? Oh, to bad, I would like to know her."

"Me too." Said Nettle.

Swift, on the other claw, just walked near them, with his arms still crossed over hie chest, and with a grumpy expression "I'm happy she is going." He said "And also her father. I barely even know them and I already don't like."

"You don't like anyone." Said Uri, and Swift said "Yeah, that is truth. But I dislike them more than the others."

"Littlefoot." Petrie whispers in the longneck's ear "Why sailback is so mean?"

"I can hear you." Said Swift, and Littlefoot said "Don't worry, Petrie." He said "Swift don't trust others when he mets them the first time, but he gets more friendly after a while."

"Not with everyone." Said Swift, still looking grumpily, and Littlefoot continued "So, what about we play now, since we can relax a little?" he suggested, and this idea was immediately accepted by all the others.

"Yay!" said Nettle, "What do we play?" she said. Some would think that an adult like her wanting to play was a bit strange, but the ones in there didn't seemed to mind much. Save for Swift, who rolled his eyes slightly.

"So lets go!" said Chomper, leading the way, and the others quickly followed him, including Nettle. Littlefoot, Swift and Uri, however, stayed behind.

"Littlefoot, you not coming?" asked Petrie, and Littlefoot said "In one moment, go ahead, I'll follow."

"Just do not disappear again." The flyer said, half-serious, half-kidding, and he flew after his friends. Littlefoot watched them walk away, and after a few moments, his features saddened, and he looked at the ground.

Uri noticed this "What is wrong, little guy?" he asked, looking at Littlefoot. The longneck did not answered, and only kept looking at the ground, with his expression a mix of sadness and guilt. "Still feeling bad for leaving eh Great Valley?" he asked, and he faced Littlefoot's silence as a "yes".

"Oh, come one, you don't need to feel guilty about it." He talked to the longneck, to try cheering him up "You said it yourself that you did it for the best. That you wanted to protect them, and they all understood it."

Littlefoot stayed silence for a few moments after these words, before saying "I know." He was still looking to the ground as he said that "But, it is not only that."

"So what?" asked Uri, and Littlefoot finally looked up, and he said "I wish I could tell you the truth." He said "The _whole_ truth."

Uri immediately understood, and also did Swift, who looked at Littlefoot as he said "You know that we can't. Not yet."

"But I don't like hiding things from Grandpa and Grandma and from my friends!"

Swift sighed, and he said "We already decided it back in our Valley. They don't need to know the whole truth yet. They _will_ know it. But not now." He finished, with a neutral expression.

Littlefoot looked at him, and then, he looked at the ground. He didn't liked not one bit of having to hide things from the ones who are important to him. It almost felt like he was truly lying at them, and he did not liked doing that.

Uir looked at him, and he sighed, and said "Look, we don't know how exactly they would take the news." Littlefoot looked at him, as he continued "So, we better jusyt tell them now what they need to know, and once they have calmed down enough, we will tell them the whole story."

Littlefoot looked at him, and the threehorn bumped him lightly with his horn "Just relax, I'm sure that your friends at least will understand."

Littlefoot was still having doubts, but Uri said "Look, just don't worry about it now, okay. Just enjoy a good time with your friends there!" he said, and bumped Littlefoot, indicating him to go.

"Okay." Littlefoot said, he even tried to smile a little, and he soon was walking off, in direction to his friends. Uri sighed as he smiled as he watched his small longneck friend go by, and Swift stood by his side. After a few moments, Swift said "I'm know that they might even understand why we hid it form them. But I doubt that they will not get angry for hiding it."

"Why are you so sour?" asked Uri, and Swift simply sighed as he ignored him. Eventually, Uri dropped the matter, and he asked one other thing that was bothering him.

"What if Littlefoot is right?" he said, making Swift look at them "What if we should really tell them the truth already?"

"And they will react with panic and make our mission even harder." Said Swift "I know how dinosaurs react in moments like that. They panic, do stupid things in order top protect themselves. They don't think straight." He finished "We need to keep things quiet for now, at least until they trust is enough for we to tell them the whole truth.

Uri looked at him for a few moments, and he knew that he was right. And then, he asked another question "And the Chomper boy?"

Swift remained silent at him "It must be truly him."

"You sure?" asked Uri, eyeing him "Because, there were already other cases that seemed to be but in the end weren't."

"It _is_ him." Said Swift, his face deadly serious "What has happened just confirmed it." He finished, and Uri looked at him for a few moments, and looked back. They both looked at the distance, to the place the kids all had went. And then, Uri asked one last question:

"Hungry?"


	5. Watching Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some introductions, everyone is now taking care of their lives.  
> Littlefoot is playing with new and old friends into the watering hole, and they all are having time to catch up the time that they lost when Littlefoot was away. The young longneck can bound with his friends once more.  
> Uri and Swift are having some meal.  
> While this, Terry is discussing details of the defending of the Valley along with the ohter residents.
> 
> Little do they know that somethign got an eye for all of them...

Littlefoot was soon into the watering hole, with the rest of his friends. For the first time in a while, Littlefoot was able to play with them again. They were now playing "swimmer and splasher". Littlefoot was in it, and he had his eyes closed as the rest of his friends were around him, making "Splasher."

They all were around him, including Nettle, his new friend from the Valley of Leaf and Claw, and she was as happy to be playing as any of the young ones. She barely even minded that some nearby adults were actually staring at her, for she was a grown up already and she should not be playing as if she was still an infant. She didn't cared for them, she just kept laughing childishly and she played with them.

Littlefoot kept his eyes closed as he swan lightly with his friends around him. He could not see them, but he knew that they were all there… Well, save for Cera. But he was happy for having them near him again.

Littlefoot barely believed how this day had turned out. He got in the Great Valley with his new mentor, and he fought some good amount of Hollows on his own, and he emerged victorious. Well, he had to be saved by Terry in the last moment, but he was actually able to protect his friends and everyone.

Then, he had to explain to the rest of the Valley things that he himself had trouble to believe around four night circle cycles ago. He had to deal with the worry of how all his friends and family might take the news he had to give, for they were to the best. Also, he was worried about they being angry at him, not forgiving him for leaving them behind to go into another valley.

And now, he was there with his friends, playing around as they did almost everyday before he had to depart for so long. They all laughed and welcomed him and his new friend as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and it let clear that they were not mad at him, and just happy to have him back.

This was all Littlefoot needed to have a smile on his face as he had his eyes closed. Littlefoot took a deep breath, and he dipped underwater, disappearing beneath the surface.

The other dinosaurs looked at the spot he had disappeared into, and afrter a few moments, Nettle said "Where'd he go?" and she looked around. Chomper, immediately looked behind himself, as this brought him a memory. As Nettle looked around, Littlefoot's tail emerged from the water behind her, and gently touched her back.

She yelped lightly, and looked behind herself to see Littlefoot coming from the water behind her, saying "Tag, you are in it!"

And all his friends around chuckled, and soon, it was Nettle who was swimming around with her eyes closed as she searched for the rest of the gang.

"Swimmer!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

"Hmmm!"

Nettle kept searching around, and Littlefoot smiled as he and his friends were there, having a good time, and all of them smiling, as if there was not the danger of the Valley being attacked by more Hollows. They could just let go of their worries and smile and play around.

Littlefoot had missed this feeling, just as he had missed his friends here in the Great Valley when he was away. He missed the feeling of don't have to get true worries and being able to just laugh and play with everyone. Before he got involved with the Hollows, and the whole story of the enemies of the order. And now, he had to deal with someone who was attacking the Great Valley.

Littlefoot looked at each one of his friends. They all played, and all of them able to completely forgot the threat that was above them. Littlefoot wished that he was able to do so too, but he could not. For he had witnessed firsthand what this evil could do, and he knew what it was going to do if it got what it wanted.

"Swimmer!"

"Splasher!"

"Splasher!"

Littlefoot looked at Nettle, who was able to laugh and smile at any situation, and at all his other friends.

Ducky.

Petrie.

Spike.

Ruby.

Chomper…

Littlefoot looked down, at the water.

"Swimmer!" Nettle called again, passing very near Littlefoot, but the longneck only looked at his own reflection as she passed straight by him. The others looked at him as he seemed to have got lost in thought.

"Littlefoot?" asked Ducky, swimming near him, and placing a hand in his leg. Littlefoot blinked, and looked at Ducky, and she asked him "Is something wrong?" she was concerned with him, it was clear on her voice. Littlefoot looked at the rest of his friends, who looked at him the same way, and he looked at Nettle.

For a moment, he and Nettle shared a worried look, and they both seemed to be discussing mentally something, and Nettle seemed slightly worried. Littlefoot looked back at Ducky, and he forced a smile, as he said "I'm okay." This sounded natural "Is just… I've got a lot to think into." And it was truth, he really did had a lot to think about.

His friends looked at him, and Petrie landed on his head "Still thinking about Hollows?" he asked, it was clear that Petrie was still afraid of these creatures. Littlefoot understood him, and so, he said "Yeah, in them, and into other things also. But mainly in them."

"These Hollow creatures are really scary." Said Ruby "But you showed that you do not fear them, even though anyone else would fear them. So I don't think we should fear them also." She finished with a smile.

"Yeah!" said Chomper, "You can protect everyone in the Great Valley from them! You just showed it!" he was very hyperactive "If they ever set foot in Great Valley you will kick their sorry tails back to where they came from!"

Littlefoot looked at his young sharptooth friend, who showed again that he seemed to have complete faith in him. As well as his other friends, who all believed him, and as well as Terry, his mentor.

They all believed him, and they all had faith on him. Even if Littlefoot himself had doubts if he would really be able to do it or not, it seemed that the ones around him had faith that he could. They had faith on him when he had not.

This was a thought that warmed his heart, and he was able to smile "Thank you, guys." He said to his friends, and his friends all smiled at him.

"Ahem." Said Nettle, making the others look at her. "Guys, I'm still here, remember?" she said innocently, raising her head slightly, and Ducky said "Yes! You are still in it, Nettle, you are, you are!" she said, and they all laughed, and they resumed playing. It was okay for Littlefoot to swim and play in the water, for it was not going to bother the medicine on his wounds, as long as he didn't went under the water or in the way of a water jet. Nettle made sure of it before she even let him enter the water.

They all played together again, with Nettle going after them as they called her, and they all laughed and they could all forget their problems.

None of them seemed to realize the small, strange looking buzzer, which was looking at them with its red eyes. Its body was somewhat like the one of a dragonfly, and it had four pair of wings on its back, and big and bulbous eyes. It buzzed slightly as it watched them from a nearby tree, looking right at each of them.

It looked the bigmouth and the spiketail, and it looked at the flyer, and it looked at the horned head, who was going around the water with her eyes closed, and laughing like a small hatchling. It paid special attention to the silvery rings which were on her tail. And then, its eyes fell upon Littlefoot, who had Chomper hiding his back.

The young sharptooth was holding on to the silvery thing that Littlefoot had around his neck. His "amulet" as he called it, and he was laughing as he and Littlefoot cried out "Splasher!" and the both ran out of Nettle's reach. The buzzer looked right to this last target, and it flapped its wings faster than an eye could catch, and buzzed away, aiming to go quickly to somewhere else.

* * *

Swift, the white sailback sharptooth was just gobbling down one big finned swimmer he had caught into a nearby fast water, and swallowing it whole. He let out a sigh as he finished it.

"Don't you even chew?" asked Uri, who was on his side, munching into some treestars. Swift looked at him, and he said "I don't give opinion on how you eat. Don't tell me how I should eat, okay?" there was no anger on his voice, it was only a simple statement.

Uri was already used to Swift's acidic replies. He grew used to them into the few night circle cycles he had passed into Valley of Leaf and Claw and was trained along with the sailback. Uri simply shrugged at him, and he gave another bite into the pile of treestars he had gotten himself.

"Littlefoot didn't lied." He said, chewing on his mouthful of leaves "These treestars are really vey good." And he bite it again, soon chewing and swallowing it, before going after another mouthful. "I wish you could eat them. You had to just taste it."

"But I can't." Swift said simply "Besides the taste being horrible to me, it would also give me serious digestive problems and I would go sick. So, I guess I'll have to restrain myself to my swimmers." He said, gobbling on another finned swimmer, and Uri could not help, but chuckle slightly at his acidic responses. In a way, they were even funny, if you could not take them personally. Many would think that Swift was antisocial, but they just needed to know him better, and let him get used to them. Actually, Uri was still waiting for Swift to get used to him.

There were a few moments of silence, before Swift spoke "We need to keep the training program." He said, and Uri looked at him "Really, we are like, in the middle of a mission." Said the threehorn.

The sailback looked at him, and he said "I know, that is why in my opinion we should train even harder. We need to be ready if the danger actually appears. I would not like to have to save your tail again."

"Hey! That time I was distracted!" Uri said in his defense "And that Hollow cheated, he attacked me when I had dust in my eyes!" he said, raising his horn high, and Swift looked at him, and he smirked lightly as he said "Yeah, let's pretend we both believe it."

"Oh, you doubt?" Uri said, offering a smirk and a challenging tone "Do you want to test my strength, sharptooth?"

"What if I want, threehorn?" Swift replied with the same tone, with a slight smirk on his lips. They both stared for a few moments, and then, Swift chuckled, and he returned to eating. Uri, however, did not dropped the matter."

"Well, I can take anything you thrown at me!" He said, adopting a strong looking pose "If you want me to train harder, so I'll train so hard that anyone else will faint only from seeing me doing it!" he added with a confident smirk as he posed.

Swift looked at him, and he said "You are far too competitive."

"No, I'm not." Said Uri on his defense. Swift looked at him for a moment, and then he said "I bet I finish eating before you do."

"No, you don't!" Uri said, and he immediately dove his head on his pile of treestars and started gobbling madly at them. After a few moments, he stopped, and he looked at Swift, who looked at him with a smile and the face like "I told you so."

"Smooth." Said Uri, giving his friend a smile, and Swift was actually able to smile a little, and both returned to eating their food, but Swift suddenly stopped, and he raised his head, looking to the sides.

Uri noticed this, and he looked at his sharptooth friend "Something wrong?" he asked, and Swift continued to look around, as if he was searching for something in particular. After a few moments, he said "You already had the feeling of being watched?"

"Sometimes." Uri said "When there is people looking at me. I kind of like it." He finished with a smile.

"I'm not talking about that." Said Swift, slightly annoyed "I'm talking about the feeling that there is someone spying on you."

"You mean, like when the young ones are watching you from hiding?" said Uri, still quite oblivious to what Swift was actually talking about "Yeah, I had that feeling quite a bit. I guess they can't avoid wanting to take a look into someone as awesome as me." He said, raising his snout lightly, and Swift rolled his eyes, and Uri continued "But, why do you ask?"

Swift sighed, and he kept looking around "I have a feeling we are not alone in here." He said. Uri looked at him for a few, and he looked around "I see no one." He said, and Swift answered "I feel that there is someone watching us now."

Uri looked at him, and he said "Okay, let me check." And he turned around, and he said "Hey! We already know you are there, come out now!" he almost shouted, causing Swift to look at him, as he looked around.

A few moments passed, and there was only the silence, and Uri turned around, and said "Well it seems that it was no one, I guess you are only being paranoid again." And so, he resumed waiting calmly.

Swift rolled his eyes in annoyance. He kept looking around as that feeling was not going way. No matter what Uri could say, Swift just knew that there was someone watching them. And that feeling did not disappeared, even when Swift could not see anyone around, even when he resumed eating his fish, his eyes kept darting to the sides, as if he could catch the shadow of whoever was spying on them.

Yes, Swift was careful, and most of all, he deeply trusted his own instincts, and from his own personal experience, he knew that instincts hardly failed. Swift just knew that they were being watched, even if they could not see who was it.

Above them, hanging into a nearby tree, into a branch, was one small buzzer, which looked exactly like the one who had been watching Littlefoot and his friends over the lake. It's big, bulbous eyes stared at the two dinosaurs as they kept eating, and it remained completely still as it watched them, not even moving its wings as it simply stood there, as if it was purposely trying to remain undetected.

It watched as the sailback kept swallowing his fish, but always keeping an eye for what was round himself. The threehorn, noticing this, says "Oh, come on, stop that. You are acting as if anyone in this valley is ready to jump on you and stomp you to death." He said in a mocking tone, but the sailback said "Some of them actually are. I bet that threehorn would love too, but I'd like to see him try."

"Oh, come on, can't you relax for a moment?" Uri said as Swift simply resumed eating, and Uri sighed, and returned to eating "Yah know, I think you have been eating too much of these finned things." He said "It is getting you troubles in the belly, you are too nervous with that." He said, and Swift said in answer "I can tell you a lot of examples of sharpteeth and leaf eaters who both ended up dead because they dropped their guards when they should had kept it, as their instincts told them. And also, you know Terry's rule number 25#"

Uri sighed "If it seems that there is someone after you, is because it there truly is." The threehorn chanted, as if he already had heard it lots of times already, and he said "Yah know? I think that Terry might be as paranoid as you."

"He is our teacher, and he listens his instincts, thing that you should do." Said Swift, and Uri snorted "Yeah, I should be like you two. Worry, worry, work, work, no time for fun. I would be joyless! You two really need to relax."

Swift ignored him, and kept eating, and Uri soon resumed eating, and they both kept like that, and soon, the buzzer started flapping its wings, and took off, leaving swiftly across the air. Swift raised his head as he looked around "Did you heard that?"

"Oh, please! I'm trying to eat!" said Uri, and he took another mouthful of treestars. Swift kept looking around, as he was completely sure he had just heard a buzzing sound coming from somewhere very near.

As he searched around, the source of the buzzing was already moving front hem, as the strange looking buzzer flew away, as if guided by some invisible force, to another place, away from their eyes and ears, and out of anyone's sight.

After a few moments, Swift finally returned into eating his meal. That feeling of being watched was gone, and so, she could return to eat in piece. But he could not shake away the thought on his mind that there was something off. He just knew that there was someone, or something, in there, and he was sure it was watching them, his instincts never failed him before, well, save for one situation or two, and he knew that there was something up. He just could not pin-point exactly what it is, still, that feeling was still bothering him into the back of his mind as he kept eating.

* * *

Terry was with the rest of the adults, all of them discussing plans to protect the valley, and maybe fortify the defenses. Terry, of course, having more experience with that and having been trained by the Order to deal with this kind of situation, gave most of the ideas, which included creating patrols day and night into the main entrances of the Great Valley in order to be ready if the Hollows decided to attack again.

"So, if we time the patrols right, the chances of being caught unaware again are little to none." Terry finished, and many of the presents agreed with him. "I was thinking about we make groups of at least seven of your strongest dinosaurs, companied by me or one of my students."

Again, the group agreed. Yes, it was a perfectly logical course of action. Yes, based into what they had witnessed today, it was obvious that they had to have their strongest ones in hand to fight these things. Also, if the other members of the order where as strong as the young Littlefoot had become in the past months, then it surely would be desirable to stay near them if there was any problem.

"So, I guess it is it." Said Mr. Threehorn "I'll form a group and I'll lead them and one of your boys into the first patrol."

Terry looked at him for a few moments "Okay, how do I say that?" he said, and the other dinosaurs looked at him "Look, I think that, since we have more experience with the Hollows, I think it would be better if me and my pupils lead the patrolling groups."

There was a wave of mumbles at this, and the threehorn, of course, was not ready to accept it "Leaving a sharptooth responsible for our safety? Bah!" he said, in a mocking tone, and Terry had to hold himself back not to jump at him, and he limited into clutching his small claws into fists. He knew he had told the younger ones that they should not pick up fight with the residents, and he himself was going to do it. But, by the Spirits, that threehorn was just asking for it!

What was worse, was that some of the other residents seemed to somewhat agree with them. Thinking again, maybe Terry could not really blame them. They had lived in fear of sharpteeth for their whole lives, and they didn't had the luck of the inhabitants of the Valley of Leaf and Claw, and live into a peaceful sharpteeth/flatteeth community like he had.

"I'm just saying that we have some more experience with this than most of you have." He said, trying to keep his anger in check with that threehorn "If the situation gets out of hand, we would know how to deal the situation better than many others. This seems to be a good reason why we should be the responsible for leading, am I not right?"

The crowd agreed. Really, it was hard to discuss with this logic. But Mr. Threehorn seemed to have a way of doing so "Well, why then don't you simply tell us all we need to know and  _we_  can deal the situation alone?" he asked, looking at Terry right in the eyes, and Terry gave back the look.

"Sires." Said Mr. Longneck, quickly getting in the way and breaking the fight before it could even start. "I agree with Mr. Bonecrusher's point" he said, looking at the sharptooth, who seemed calm and tranquil "He and the others seem to have more experience, and they probably will be good leaders for the patrols."

Many mumbled among themselves, agreeing with the older longneck, after all, he was one of the smartest dinosaurs into the Valley, and his decisions always aimed for the better and to keep everyone safe. Though there were some of them who were still not very comfortable into trusting an adult sharptooth their safety, and one of them was Mr. Threehorn.

"Oh, please! Let's be reasonable!" he said out loud "Are we really going to trust the safety of the whole Great Valley to a sharptooth and a bunch of kids we don't even know?"

Terry looked at the threehorn, he had already dealt with some mistrusting dinosaurs before, most of them ones like this threehorn, who had never thought of maybe having a sharptooth as a friend. Sure, this mistrusting was completely expected, after all, the world was not like they wished it could be, it was a hard place for everyone, and it was hardly going to change on its own.

That was, after all, the main reason they were there.

"We have already discussed it, and I think it is a good idea." Mr. Longneck said, and some agreed with him.

"You are only saying that because your grandson is one of them!" said Mr. Threehorn accusingly, and there were a few more mumbles, as Mr. Longneck stared down at the threehorn, his face denoting a rare expression of anger as he looked him in the eye.

"What are you insinuating?"

"I'm saying that you are favoring them just because your grandson likes them! He has been away for a long time! How do we even know we can still trust him!?"

"Wha-!? How dare you!"

"Enough!" Terry roared loudly, making them stop, and everyone look at him. Indeed, what he just did indeed sounded more like a roar than an actual shout, some dinosaurs around even retreated a few steps by the sight of an angry sharptooth. Terry, whoever, was keeping an calm and collected appearance, as he simply stood there, and son, he spoke "Well, if anyone in here believes that there is a true reason for me and the others not to lead the patrols, may speak now."

There was silence, and no one spoke, as they didn't had real objections, and also, partially, they were quite scared that saying something would anger the scarred sharptooth, even Mr. Threehorn simply "hump"ed as he saw that it was no use arguing anymore.

So, as no one seemed to have any other true objection, Terry said "So, it seems that it is settled."

"Now, I need the strongest and most experienced fighters of your Valley to offer to form the patrolling teams, so we can start maybe tonight." He also said, and the crowd mumbled among them, as some of them were thinking about volunteering.

Mr. Threehorn was, of course, the first one to offer himself to make part of the patrols.

"Like I was going to just sit back and let others do things in my place!" said the old stubborn threehorn, to which Terry only rolled his eyes. He didn't liked the threehorn's acting, but he had to say that he admired his spirit and his will to fight. Indeed, it was something that was to be admired into that stubborn creature.

Some others also offered right after the threehorn. Some clubtails, some domeheads also, and also some other dinosaurs who said they could hand on a fight. There were even a few longnecks which wished they could help protect the Valley they lived in. They were sure their massive size was going to help them crush that small things if they dared come closer.

Terry did, however, knew that simply being big was not exactly the best defense against the Hollows. Besides they were able to come into different shapes, they could also come into different sizes. And not only that, but also, the Hollows were stronger and faster than regular dinosaurs, in a way that they could take down dinosaurs which were a lot bigger than they.

Really, some of these dinosaurs barely even knew nothing about Hollows besides what was already told to them. Maybe it would be a good idea that he and his pupils would also give them a few teachings or hints about how to act.

Soon, it was decided who would form the first team of patrol, which would be in that first night.

The group was formed by Mr. Threehorn, two other threehorns, one clubtail, two domeheads and one longneck. And the team was going to be led by Terry himself, who would make sure that they didn't let any possible sign of a Hollow attack escape their eyes.

Mr. Threehorn, of course wanted to protest at the idea of being led by a sharptooth, but he already knew that it was probably going to lead to nothing, so he decided to remain quiet. He did, however, made a mental note that he was going to ram his horns into that meat eater's belly if he ever gave any sign that he was going to turn on them.

After a few more discussion, it was settled that the team would start the patrol right after the Bright Circle set. So, with that said, Terry ordered all the ones who were going to make the patrol to go to their homes, eat and rest well, because the patrol was going to last for a while across the night. And so, everyone went back, some scared, some anxious, some determined, and some, like Mr. Threehorn, also taking the whole thing with doubt.

Terry sighed, as this talk had took a little longer than he expected. He had to deal with the fact that many were hesitating into trusting the words of a sharptooth, but he managed to work it out. He had to thank Grandpa Longneck for that, for the elder trusted him and the judgement of his grandson.

Terry started walking away, and then Grandpa came at him "Well, I have to say that things worked out." He said, offering a smile at Terry, who looked at him, and was able to return the smile briefly, as he said "Well, good thing that all worked out in the end. I must thank you for staying by my side."

Grandpa chuckled, and he said to the sharptooth "Littlefoot trusts you, and for that, I think you must deserve. He is a smart boy."

"I've noticed." He said in reply, "He already showed to be one great pupil back in the Valley of Leaf and Claw."

There was a small silence after this statement, and Terry had a feeling that he knew well what was going on in the elderly longneck's mind. Terry let out a long sigh, and he said "I'm sorry for taking him away from you for so long."

Grandpa looked at him as he continued "Sometimes, decisions like that are out of our claws." He looked at the longneck as he spoke that "Believe me, I'm against taking young ones to battle like that. Also, making them be away from the ones they love, I really don't like it. I was against this decision, but this was from the rest of our council. We decided by what seemed to be the best course of action."

He sighed, "I really wish Littlefoot was not so young, and that he had not so much to lose." Grandpa looked at him "I really don't like getting kids involved into these battles, no matter who difficult the situation is or how strong they actually are."

There was another long moment of silence, and then, Grandpa spoke to Terry "You offered Littlefoot a choice. Didn't you?"

Terry looked at him, the longneck did not seemed to be angry with him, but he seemed to want an honest answer, and Terry felt like he could only give one "Everybody has a choice." Was his answer "Someone can decline the invitation to join our order freely, and no one has the right to stop. Everyone is responsible for its own life."

"We did offered Littlefoot a choice. We explained him what he would be doing on our order, and what this would require of him, and the reasons why it was so important. We made it perfectly clear that he could wish simply to refuse and go back home." Terry continued, as Grandpa paid attention to every single word of what he was saying "Littlefoot could have refused, but, he accepted it, for he understood that our case was important."

There was a long silence, and Terry looked at the longneck. Terry was now waiting him to glare at him angrily, or tell him that he had no right to get a child involved into such a thing, or that he should have tried harder to convince the others to change their minds and that Littlefoot was too young for this kind of thing. That was one thing that Terry had heard sometimes from parents whose children had become part of the order, and who were worried that their young were in danger for getting to fight such creatures by themselves.

Whoever, the longneck simply nodded, and he said "Well, Littlefoot was never the kind who turned his back if someone needed help."

This answer surprised Terry, who could only look at the elderly dinosaur, who continued to explain "For what I understand, the main goal of your order, is to help others who are in trouble, and to create a better world, right?"

Terry was still surprised and he could only nod, and so, Grandpa continued "Well, I know that Littlefoot always helps who needs, turning his back is not the kind of thing he does when someone is in need." The old longneck sighed "Sometimes I think that he is too good for his own good."

Terry looked at him, as he understood what the longneck was talking about, he knew the young Littlefoot for quite a while now, and he already saw enough of him to know that he would never abandon someone who was in need. Indeed, Littlefoot's altruism and his faithfulness to his allies and friends were good almost to a fault.

"Well, I'd rather not have him getting himself into too much danger, but, I guess it was his choice." The elder finished as he looked down, and Terry could notice the strange, worried conformation that was behind his words. The sharptooth could not help but sympathize with the elder, for he had passed by something similar not too long ago.

"I have a grandchild too." Terry spoke, granting the elder longneck to look at him.

"You seem rather you to be a grandfather." He spoke, and Terry could not help but chuckle "I take care of myself. Also, they say that I don't age very much like the others. I may seem to be the age of that threehorn, maybe a bit younger, but actually, I'm a few years older than you."

This surprised Grandpa, as he looked at the sharptooth, who did indeed looked younger than he said. However, looking intently at him, he could notice the small sighs of his age, like the freckles in the corners of his eyes, and on the sides of his mouth. But, other than that, anyone would say that the sharptooth was indeed rather young. Not only that, but he also acted and moved as if he had only half of the age he said he had.

Indeed, this sharptooth truly was in a great shape. A shape he himself also wished to have.

"You indeed look very young." The longneck finally said, and Terry replied with a smirk "You also are in good shape for your age." He said as he walked and Grandpa walked along with him, both chuckling.

They walked side by side, before Grandpa asked "So, you have been teaching Littlefoot to use his… 'new abilities'?"

"Yes, I have." Terry said, as they both walked "I have been teaching him ways of focusing and using his powers. I give him the directions and he found himself uses for his talents. Also, I have been giving him lessons into how to defend himself with his abilities."

"Of course, I did not expected him to have to fight Hollows on his own like he did today." Terry said, and Grandpa looked at him, but the sharptooth quickly added "But, he proved that he was ready for this." He smiled as he said that to Grandpa "Your grandson is a quick learner, and he is also very talented. Few times in my life I have seen someone with so much potential as him."

Grandpa smiled at him "I'm glad to know."

"Also, he is open minded." Terry added "He accepts others who are different from him, and he wants to help them, not mattering their species, or even if they are sharpteeth or leaf eaters." He continued as he looked up "Some dinosaurs like Littlefoot are somewhat difficult to find. I'm glad to see that his friends are somewhat like him. I just wish some of the adults could also be."

Grandpa noticed the rather resentful look on the sharptooth's face, and he had a feeling that he knew what he was talking about "Yes, sorry about that. Mr. Threehorn can really be difficult to deal sometimes."

Terry looked at him "Yeah, I've noticed, but I wasn't talking only about him." Terry sighed "Anyways, I think that he has his own reasons to be mistrusting. I can somewhat understand that." He said, and he chanted "If it seems that there is someone after you, is because there truly is."

Grandpa looked at him for a few moments, and he said "Is that some kind of wisdom?"

"Is one of my rules." Terry answered "Rule 25#, to be more exact. In a way, they are like wisdoms."

"25# hum?" he said, and he asked "And how many of them there are?"

"Around 50"

"And you are also teaching them to Littlefoot?"

"I'm trying." Terry said, looking at him "I try to teach the more I can to my pupils, and to who want to learn. These rules have been taught to me when I was younger, and they had helped me and actually saved my life sometimes now. So, I think that is a good idea teaching them to others so they can help them if they ever need."

Grandpa nodded "You seem to be the kind of dinosaur who has already lived through a lot and has a lot to teach."

"I just try to pass on what I have learned." He said with a smile, and Grandpa smiled too. Terry was looking away, but he caught in the corner of his eye something that made him double look.

Terry had stopped, and Grandpa noticed it. Now, he was looking at Grandpa, not at his face, but to somewhere in the base of his neck. He was looking at it very intently, and with a serious look on his face.

"Mr. Bonrecrusher?" he asked.

"Shhh!" Terry said to him, still looking at the place into his body "Don't move." He added, almost in a whisper, as he was now moving closer to the elderly longneck.

Grandpa suddenly was feeling very uneasy that the sharptooth suddenly was coming closer at him, and was giving so much attention to his neck.

"Terry." The longneck said, trying not to let the nervousness appear on his voice.

"Trust in me." Terry said once again "And don't move."

Grandpa looked at him as he came closer, and he did not moved. Terry looked at the base of his neck for a few moments, and then, fast as a lightning, his small arm brushed against it, and snatched something

"Gotcha!" he said, and Grandpa finally was able to give a step back. He didn't felt his neck being sliced by his claws or hurt in any way, but the sudden contact with that claw against his skin has somewhat gave him a scare.

Once he recovered, he finally could ask what was all that about to the sharptooth. However, as he was about too, he saw that Terry was holding something on his small hand.

Grandpa got interested, and he took a closer look. At first, he saw nothing, but, as he looked closer, he could see that there was what seemed to be a very strange-looking buzzer now on Terry's hand.

Grandpa looked at it, and at Terry, who looked seriously at it, almost angrily. Grandpa was about to ask something, when Terry grunted, and he squeezed the buzzer on his hand until they both could hear a surprisingly loud crushing sound, followed by some short of buzzing screech. And then, the buzzer that was on his hand decomposed itself into black smoke, which floated and evaporated into thin air, leaving no other trace that it had ever existed.

Grandpa was a little stunned by what he had just saw, and even more for knowing that that thing, if it was what he was thinking, was literally right on his neck and he had barely even noticed.

"I-it was…" the longneck said, and Terry simply sighed as he flexed the claws of his hand.

"Maybe we should start the patrols  _before_  the Bright Circle sets." Terry said as he continued to walk, and Grandpa Longneck went right after him. None of them noticed, into a nearby tree, another buzzer that was identical to the one that Terry had just destroyed. It buzzed its wings, and it took flight. Getting away from the place it was in, and away from the two dinosaurs who were walking away.

It flew on its own, buzzing across the trees and against the wind, and passing by some other dinosaurs on its way, none of them really giving attention o a small buzzer, as there was a lot of them around. However, if they would take a closer look at that buzzer they would surely notice that it was no ordinary buzzer.

It flew past many dinosaurs, and soon, there was another buzzer, which was nearly identical, and which had come from some other part, and was now flying by its side, and going closer to it as both kept flying forward, until they touched each other.

As they did, right in midair, without losing speed on their flight, they started merging. They distorted and melted against each other, as they mixed with each other, bending their bodies to fit as they mixed just like fresh mud. Soon, they had become one single buzzer, slightly bigger, and with the same appearance of the other two.

However, it was still not calling attention, and it was able to fly unnoticed across the land, above the heads of a few unsuspecting dinosaurs who didn't noticed nothing strange, not even when another buzzer came, and it merged itself into the bigger buzzer, making it become even bigger.

It was now the size of a treesweet, maybe a bit bigger. Yet, it was able to fly completely unnoticed by keeping itself above the dinosaurs bellow. Anyway, there was not many dinosaurs who would actually give it a double look, after all, no one ever suspected buzzers.

It flew in direction to the Great Wall. It was the might stone fortification which protected the Great Valley, and prevented it from being invaded by any kind of external treat. It was the great protection which kept the sharpteeth away, and allowed the leaf eaters inside to live in there happily and without having to worry about being eaten.

The buzzer flew right next it, and t found its way over to an very small hole, only big enough for it to squeeze itself. And squeeze itself it did, crawling over it into the small opening, and it squeezed itself across the very small cave that was, and it only got smaller and smaller. But it was no impediment to the strange-looking crawler, for its shape was bending and twisting in order to fit and crawl over that very small space.

After some effort, it finally was able to find the exit, and so, it squeezed itself through the small opening, and it reformed itself to its normal shape, and it resumed flying. It had now left the Great Valley, and was now into the place known as the Mysterious Beyond.

The place was a big difference in comparison with the green life of the Great Valley. This place was vast, and in its most it was made out by a long desert which was at most by stones and arid fields, and it was one kind of place in which, if you would not be eaten out by some sharptooth, you could very well starve looking for something to eat. It was surely a difficult place to survive.

The buzzer, however, gave it little to no attention. It simply started buzzing again as it flew around. It had no worries about possible predators, as it simply flew across the landscape.

It flew past the arid fields and across the rock formation, and even passed on by some mountains, little minding the distance that it had to go through. It simply buzzed across the landscape, with one single and specific goal on its mind.

It took a while, but it finally arrive where it intended.

It arrived into a cave that was at the root of some kind of mountain, and then, it flew right into the cave.

Inside, it seemed to have a net of tunnels, but the buzzer, as if knowing perfectly well these tunnels, was able to navigate in there with little to no problem. It made curves and took the right tunnels in the pathways to reach its intended destination.

Finally, it arrived into the place it intended. It was one big room inside the cave, almost a chamber, with several stone teeth in the roof and also some in the ground, making the whole place look like the mouth of a big predator, ready to close itself around the helpless prey.

The buzzer buzzed across the air as it had one more intent in its simple mind, and soon, it arrived there, landing into some smooth surface, which was not stone, but the skin of a dinosaur.

The said dinosaurs, grumbled a little, and it looked at the thing that had landed in it, and then, it almost purred.

" _Ah, you arrived._ " It said in sharptooth language " _Good, I was starting to get impatient._ " It spoke as it reached its claw, and it gently caressed the strange looking buzzer, almost as if it was a pet. And it, in response, buzzed slightly. It had not a real feeling of being nuzzled, it only responded to the contact of its maker.

" _So, what do you have to show me?_ " it asked again, and the buzzer then, started to dissolve itself into black and purple colored mist. This mist moved on its own, and it moved right in direction to the dinosaur's nostrils.

The dinosaurs took a deep breath as he inhaled the smoke, which filled his nostrils with the scent of ash and of decay. But also, this had a smell of evil. There was no way of describing it, but it was exactly what the smell was like. Evil, cruelty, violence and bloodlust. It almost made the dinosaur purr in some kind of twisted pleasure.

It coughed a little as it finished inhaling the smoke, and then, it took a few deep breaths as it let the smoke settle down to its lungs. And once it did, the creature opened its eyes, which soon became pure black as several images and sound filled its mind.

_It was looking to a white sailback and a threehorn, both eating. The sailback looked up and said "Already had the feeling of being watched?"_

The figure snarled as he was seeing it. " _Just look at him_ " it snarled to no one in partuclar " _Standing so close to the prey and not even trying to take it down. Bah. Just another traitor._ "

As the creature said that, more images come into its mind. Though the words were proffered in leaf eater, the creature had absolutely no problem into understanding every word of what was being said.

_Terry came into view, talking to a bunch of leaf eaters "Now, I need the strongest and most experienced fighters of your Valley to offer to form the patrolling teams, so we can start maybe tonight." He said to them. The image changed, for Terry crushing the other buzzer on his hand, and he saying to the elderly longneck who was on his side "Maybe we should start the patrols_ before _the Bright Circle sets."_

The figure snickered " _Yes, of course Terry would be there to protect the sap suckers. He always liked leaf eaters too much._ " It said as it felt a wave of disgust " _He is just another traitor of his own kind. But doesn't matter, I'll take care of him, along with all his precious pupils._ "

As the creature said that, more images filled its mind.

_There was a bunch of young dinosaurs playing around, and there was an adult with them. The adult was a horned head who used one amulet of the Order. Surely another member._

_There were images of each one of the dinosaurs. There was a swimmer on the back of a spiketail._

_There was a fast runner, and there was also a flyer hovering around. And then, the image of a longneck with one amulet of the Order and a young sharptooth on the back came into its mind._

It narrowed its eyes " _There you are!"_  It said, holding on into the new image. " _You are the one who the order talks about so much! The new 'special one', huh?"_

_"You can protect everyone in the Great Valley from them! You just showed it! If they ever set foot in Great Valley you will kick their sorry tails back to where they came from!" The young sharptooth was saying in leaf eater to the longneck, who smiled down at it._

" _You look so happy and so sure that you and your friends are safe_ " it said as it flexed its claws. " _Well, just wait until I have you in my claws. Then lets see if you are still as special as the Order seems to think."_

And, with a wave of its claws, some shadows started forming on the ground ahead of it, and soon, they were bubbling and merging together, and started forming shapes.

" _Just wait, little one."_  It said as the shadows started forming familiar shapes " _I'll get you, and I'll kill anyone who dares to stand in my way!"_  It almost roared, and it let out a loud, scary laughter which echoed all across the cave and could even be heard outside of it.

Nothing was going to get on his way.

 

 


	6. Matters of Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust is not something that you can take for granted. Sometimes, it is very hard to make someone trust you, but at the same time, sometimes it is very easy for someone who trusts you to stop trusting.

Littlefoot laughed as he walked around, carrying Chomper on his back, the young sharptooth holding onto his leg as the longneck he was mounting trotted forward. He laughed along with Littlefoot, as someone behind them said "I'm gonna get you!"

It was Nettle, who now was playing tag with them. She was running in their direction with her hands outstretched as if they would stretch to grab them from far.

The rest of the gang was also running around, keeping their distance form Nettle as not to let her get them.

They all laughed together as they played and ran around, moving across the fields and near the woods. In their way, they passed by some adults, who got startled by the kids running around. They were able to avoid stepping on them or crossing their way accidentally. They only looked at the kids who were playing around and continued their way. Some found it rather strange that the only adult with them was playing instead of making them behave.

The seven dinosaurs laughed as they played around, Nettle trying to get everyone on her way, sometimes she would spin around and get lost, and then she would recover to resume chasing after them. She was laughing very much as she was playing with them. They were really very fun, as much as Littlefoot had told they were. She was really loving to know them.

The young dinosaurs too were happy for knowing Nettle. She was very fun and very kind, and they all liked her spirit and her funny ways. She was very jovial and easygoing, and she was as carefree as them, even though she was clearly older. They all liked her very much, and it was really fun to be near her. Littlefoot had already realized it in the time he was in the Valley of Leaf and Claw, and now, his friends were also realizing it.

As the friends ran and laughed around, they barely even noticed that they were walking very near to an specific part of the Great Valley. More specifically, the Threehorn's Glade. Even more specific, the place that was very near Cera's nest.

* * *

The young threehorn was sitting next to their sleeping area, while Tricia was playing near, with Tria gently rubbing her belly "Oh, who is my little girl? You are! Yes, you are!" she said, gently rubbing the young baby threehorn's belly, making her giggle and squirm her legs.

Cera sighed as she saw that, and she was actually able to smile a little. Yet, her thoughts kept going back at Littlefoot. She groaned to herself, and she looked around, that was when she heard the sound of familiar laughter.

She looked over, and saw Littlefoot coming, with Chomper on his back, and that horned head coming after them. They were all laughing, and the others were very near them. It was clear that they were playing tag, and that the horned head was in it. Cera looked strange at seeing an adult playing around as if still being a child.

"I'm going to get you!" Nettle cried out, and Chomper answered "You will need to try harder!"

Nettle laughed, and she started running a bit faster, and she almost touched into Littlefoot's tail, what forced the young longneck to run faster, and so, Nettle turned her attention to the other dinosaurs of the group.

They all cried out, as Spike ran with Ducky on his back, and they both laughed as Nettle went after them. Petrie flew higher in order to avoid being catch by Nettle, who waved her hand sin the air and jumped slightly, as if she was trying to touch him as he was above.

Nettle soon turned her attention to Ruby. The fast runner smiled at her, and soon, Nettle cried out as she jumped in her direction. Ruby reacted in a blink of an eye, and she dashed, starting to run in the opposite direction, and Nettle wasted no time into running after her.

Cera looked from the distance as she saw her friends and the horned head playing around. She admitted that she felt a bit left off, and he gave a look at Tria and Tricia. The older threehorn had noticed the young ones around, and she looked at Cera, and she gave a nod.

Cera looked at her, and she smiled, and she got up to go in direction to the others.

"Hey, guys!" she called out, and the others stopped and looked at her.

"Cera!" Littlefoot cried out at her, and his friends also greeted Cera, who promptly asked to play, and they accepted. As Cera had just entered, Nettle touched her snout horn gently with her claw, and she said "Tag! You are in it!" and she ran away laughing.

"Wha- Hey! Not fair! I wasn't ready!" Cera said, and soon, she started chasing after the horned head, who was laughing away as she ran form the threehorn, and soon, the others were also running around them, enjoying the game.

Now, the gang was truly complete. Littlefoot enjoyed seeing all of his friends together and playing. It made him feel just like the old times, a few night circle cycles ago, before he got involved with the order.

Not that he didn't liked, but he had missed being close to his friends, and he was happy that they all could play together again.

He had learned so much things by the time he was away, and he had lived so much adventures and saw so much amazing things. He wanted to talk to his friends all day about it, he wanted to take them there so they could see the amazing things he had seen. He wanted to introduce his friends to all the great dinosaurs he had met in the Valley of Leaf and Claw.

Littlefoot really wanted them to have the chance to see the Valley of Leaf and Claw. Specially Chomper. He was surely going to love it.

But, it could wait. Right now, in this moment, he was really happy for having his new and old friends all together and playing and laughing, forgetting about all the problems.

However, it was bound not to last too long.

"Cera!" someone called, and the othe4rs all stopped, and looked over, except for Nettle. They could see Mr. Threehorn walking in their direction, and the old threehorn did not looked happy.

He stood grumpy in front of them, and he looked over to Cera "Go back to the nest."

"But, dad…" Cera tried to protest, but Mr. Threehorn said "Do it!"

Cera flinched, and looked at her friends, as if she was saying "Sorry." She cast a particularly long look at Littlefoot, before she turned around and started walking back to the nest. Nettle only then seemed to notice that they were not playing anymore, and she saw Cera walking away, and she said "Where is she going?"

"I don'1t want my daughter near you." Mr. Threehorn said, making Nettle yelp and jump, looking at him scared. The old bull simply grunted, and he looked at Littlefoot "I don't want my daughter near someone who I can't trust."

Littlefoot looked at him for a few moments, and he said "Me and Cera have been friedns for years."

"Yeah, before you disappeared and then came back bringing more sharpteeth with you." The old threehorn said accusingly. His tone was almost aggressive as he looked at the longneck, and he walked closer, to be near from him as he spoke "You disappear for so long and want us to simply trust in every word you say?"

Months later Littlefoot would have become scared at the older and bigger dinosaur talking at him with angry like that. It would be enough to make him recoil and retreat. However, the longneck had passed by many things in the last four night circle cycles, and this had taught him not to be easily scared only because someone was bigger than him. So, he stood his ground, looking at the threehorn.

"I just want everybody in Great Valley to be safe." The young longneck said back, looking fiercely into Mr. Threehorn's eyes. "Everyone in here is important to me. If the Hollows break in they will kill everybody, and I cannot let it happen!"

Mr. Threehorn looked intently at him as the young longneck spoke it. It was almost as if he was trying to see through the longneck in front of him, to see if he was actually hiding something deep inside. And that was exactly what the threehorn would like to be doing if he could.

"Sorry if I can't trust someone who brings complete strangers to the Great Valley. Specially the dangerous kind." Said the threehorn after a few minutes, and Littlefoot stared back at him.

"It is all because of Terry and the others?" Littlefoot asked, and the older dinosaur only looked down at him, almost as if he was evaluating just what kind of threat the longneck would pose. As he didn't answered, Littlefoot took the silence itself as the answer "I know they all well. They would never hurt anyone in here."

"That is what  _you_  say." Mr. Threehorn said to him "And for what we know it may have been what your sharptooth teacher told you to tell us."

Littlefoot was the one looking angry now "It is true!" Littlefoot said "We just want to protect the Great Valley! We just want to make sure everyone is safe from the Hollows!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Mr. Threehorn "So we should just trust our complete survival at the claws of a bunch of magic dinosaurs who we barely know about and that could very well be our enemies as soon as this matter is settled?" he neared Littlefoot, now being dangerously close "How do we know that you don't have other motives to be here than our safety?"

"Why would we!?" Littlefoot asked almost aggressively. Having the big dinosaur so close to him was making his instincts tell him to get ready to fight, however, he was holding himself back. The threehorn snorted at him, and he neared very close, and he said to the longneck, almost in a whisper.

"I've noticed the way you and your  _teacher_  traded looks back in the Meeting Rock." His tone was a one that sent shivers down Littlefoot's spine "I've noticed that or you are lying, or you are not telling something about this whole story."

Littlefoot shivered for a moment, as a spark of pure fear kindled inside his chest and made him feel slightly sick in the stomach as the threehorn continued "I don't know what it is yet, but you all are hiding something, and I'll find out what it is. And when I do, not even your teachers, your grandpa or your magic will protect you from me!"

With that said, the old bull resumed his normal talking "I want you and your friends of this 'order' to stay away from my family. I'll not say it twice." And with that, he simply walked past Littlefoot, and he walked in direction top his nest, leaving the young dinosaurs in silence in his absence.

"Man, what has bite his tail?" asked Chomper, breaking the silence. And Nettle was the next to talk "Why he is so mean?"

After a few moments, Littlefoot said "He is just worried." He was looking to the ground as he said that, and the others looked at him. "He is worried at his family's safety. Everyone's actually." Littlefoot sighed heavily "He just don't trust us yet, and he is just being careful. He don't know if we are worth of his trust yet."

The longneck was looking at the ground, and he almost looked guilty. The other dinosaurs noticed the strange look on Littlefoot's face.

"Is something wrong, Littlefoot?" asked Chomper, walking closer, and Littlefoot looked at the young sharptooth. They looked their eyes for a long moment, and then, Littlefoot opened his mouth, and he was about to say something, when a voice called "Hey, kiddos!"

All the ones in there turned their head to see Uri walking near, with Swift right by his side. The threehorn seemed to be smiling at them, while Swift… well, he had his usual demeanor, serious.

"What is up?" he asked as he came closer, and Ducky said "We were playing with Cera, but she had to go when her father came."

"He don't want her to play with Littlefoot anymore." Said Petrie, and Swift looked at him "And why would be that?"

"He says Littlefoot not trustable anymore, for he is with you." Said the young flier, and Swift looke at him for a few moments, before he looked in direction to the old threehorn's nest, and started walking in direction to it.

"Swift." Said Uri to the sailback, who looked back at him, as he spoke "You better not do it, remember what Terry said."

The white dinosaurs looked at him for a few moments, and he grumbled "Any day you will be not around to protect that old man, and then, he and I will have a serious talk."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that." Said the blue threehorn as the sailback turned back at him. Littlefoot's friends could only share a worried look as this sailback seemed to really want to hurt Mr. Threehorn if he had the chance. Littlefoot and Nettle, however, knew that, despite being always like that, deep inside, Swift was not the kind that would hurt someone out of no reason. Even if sometimes he could get easily carried away if someone pushed him the wrong way.

"So, Terry is starting to set off groups to make patrols, and he want us to decide which one of us will lead the first one." Said Uri to Littlefoot and Neetle. "He said that the ones who want to go first must volunteer."

"Uh, uh!, I wanna go!" said Nettle, raising her hand and jumping in place.

"You are going to maybe have to face the Hollows if they decide to attack." Said Swift, and her smile soon disappeared as she lowered her hand. Uri couldn't help but chuckle "Well, and you, Littlefoot?"

The longneck looked at the threehorn, and then he looked back at his friends, and soon, he was saying "I'm not sure…"

"Why not?" asked Chomper "You are so strong, and you are a great leader!" said the young sharptooth, making the longneck look at him.

"Yes!" said Ducky "You always lead use to safety on our adventures, and you always knew what to do! You did! You did!"

"You great leader!" said Petrie, flying near his head "You brave and smart and you always worried about others, you make great leader."

Swift looked at the flier as he flew it, and he could only roll his eyes. Littlefoot, on the other hand, smiled when his flier friend wanted to support him.

"You would make a great reinforcement to the patrols for you know the enemy, and knowing the enemy is a great vantage to a patrol." Said Ruby, placing a hand on his shoulder, and Nettle said "Yeah! Littlefoot!" as she made a little dance, as if she was cheering for him.

Littlefoot looked at all his friends, who all supported him, and he opened a smile "Well, since you all say, I guess I'll do it."

All his friends cheered for him, and Uri could only smile, while Swift kept his arms crossed, as to keep the positon of who was unimpressed by it. Soon, after it was said, Littlefoot and his friends all started walking in direction to the place where they would met with Terry, to offer themselves to be the leaders of the first patrol.

"You think that there will be more Hollows like these who appeared earlier?" asked Chomper, and Uri said "Maybe. The Hunters are usually not the main source of attack, but they usually are good for jobs like hunting and tracking."

"Hunters?" asked Ruby, and Swift looked at her "As we said before, there are several kinds of Hollows, depending on their purpose." He said to her.

"They can have various shapes, as well as various kinds of abilities, depending on the function they are attributed. These Hollows who appeared earlier, the ones you described, are called 'Hunters'. They have that shape similar to a fastbiter, and their main function is to track and hunt down specific targets. Of course, they are also used to pursue creatures, and even as scouts in order to make the cognizance of the ambient." Swift said to the young dinosaurs, and Uri counting used for him

"To attend to this purpose, they are created with great agility, and also amazing senses. They can hear, see and smell better than even most of the sharpteeth. They were created specifically to hunt down the targets and to identify their prey."

"Ohhhh." Said the kids, and then, Ducky asked "There are some who are made for different reasons?"

"Yes." Said Littlefoot to his small friend "Depending on the reason they are created, and on the intention of their creator, they can have different appearances that fit their purpose. For instance, the ones who were created specifically to bring down big dinosaurs and to destroy things tend to be big and very bulky, while the ones created to approach subtly and hidden usually are smaller and far swifter."

"They can have a whole variety of purposes." Said Uri "They can serve to hunt, to track, to sneak, to spy, to follow, to protect, to guard, to kill, and so on." He looked at the young ones "It is the characteristic that is in their nature once they are created. We call it an Hollow's 'instincts'. As a general rule, most Hollows who are created have the most basic instinct of following the instructions and commands of their creator."

The young dinosaur all nodded at that, and Chomper, the curious one, could not help but ask something that he had been wondering "And, how do someone 'creates' a Hollow?"

There was a brief silence, and Swift was the first to speak "There are several ways."

Everyone looked at him as he spoke "Hollows are essentially made of some special kind of darkness, a darkness formed by evil."

"By… evil?" said Petrie, starting to sound scared. Swift looked at him, and he sighed as he continued, "The 'evil' that we talk about, is the evil that exists in the heart." He explained to the young dinosaurs "We are talking about evil emotions and motivations, like hate, greed, ambition, cruelty, wrath, and so on."

He looked at the young ones as they continued "The evil that lurks in the hearts and souls of every living creature."

"Not in me." Said Ducky "I'm not evil, no, no, no."

"Everyone had some evil inside." Swift said, and Ducky was forced to agree. "And so, everyone can be tempted to become evil, to give in to your anger, to your ambition, to your cruel instincts. Everybody has this darkness inside of them, darkness that might take shape and take power of its own, through the correct means."

Swift looked at the young ones as he continued his explanation "The Hollows are basically made out of these emotions. They are made of the negative emotions all condensed and materialized in the shape of pure darkness and all compacted together to take these shapes."

"That is why they are dangerous." Said Uri, finally saying something "For they are made only by evil emotions they don't have any idea of what is like to feel happiness, or to love, or to have friends, or about compassion. All they know is hate and destruction. It is all they are made off, and it is all that they will ever know."

The young dinosaurs absorbed this information. Maybe they were scared, maybe they were not quite believing this too much. Littlefoot knew that he had been really scared when he had heard that such things could exist, and that he was even more scared when he heard that, as a member of the order, one of his missions would be to find and to fight off these things.

Well, but that was quite sometime ago. Maybe it was rather little by other people's standards but, to Littlefoot, after all the things he had lived and passed by, and all the people he had known n during this time, it almost felt like he had lived a whole life. He would never had imagined that his life would give such a strong and amazing turn. He never imagined he would find out so great things and that he would be able to do the thigns that he could do now. And he would absolutely never have guessed that someone so close to him was…

"So, if they are made of bad feelings." Said Ducky, making Littlefoot's thoughts trail. "And, if they are so dangerous and mean as you say, why would someone want to make them?"

Spike mumbled, as if agreeing with her. For her, wanting to do something so bad just didn't made sense.

"There are a lot of reasons for someone to want to create a Hollow." Said Swift "It depends on their intents. Some create Hollows in order to get something their want. Orders create them in order to hunt and to kill, or to destroy and conquer. Some create them in order to go after specific targets, as a mean of getting revenge. Sometimes they can be created with the only purpose of destroying everything on its path and to create suffering."

"And the Hollows can also do great servants." Uri said "They are usually stupid, but they don't think or talk too much. They are loyal to their creator to the point of giving their very existence for it in a heartbeat. And also, they don't have morals so they don't question or hesitate to follow any order, even the ones that are clearly cruel, and even the suicidal."

"They don't care who they hurt or why." Said Nettle, finally having her own saying of things "They don't care if they kill children or females or elders, and they don't feel guilt for any of it. So, they usually are used to the cruelest and dirtiest works, like slaughtering whole herds or hunting down infants. They are usually employed by cruel dinosaurs who also don't care who they hurt."

There was a long silence as the young dinosaurs pondered over it "This so spooooky!" Petrie said, and he ducked to hid behind Littlefoot's heads for support. Littlefoot could hear Swift muttering something under his breath. He didn't got the whole thing, but he got the words "speech", "coward" and "hatchling". It was enough for him to get the whole picture of what Swift meant.

"So, since the Hollows came form these emotions, it means that they can only be created by other dinosaurs?" Chomper asked, and Swift looked at him, and suddenly his mood seemed a little better. Well, at least he doesn't looked so grumpy.

"Well, usually yes." Swift said, and Chomper than said "But, earlier, Terry said that they could simply appear. How is that possible if they need emotion to be made?"

"Because sometimes, the emotion that stays in a place is enough to form them." Was Swift's answer.

"Huh?" Chomper said, clearly confused, as well as his friends. Now it was Littlefoot's turn to explain to them.

"Well, you see, sometimes, we a dinosaur, or a group of dinosaurs, experience a ver strong emotion, sometimes, over time, the emotion can… well, what si the word?... 'Leak' from them, and it can stay the ambient around them, or sometimes even certain objects, like a rock or a tree."

The dinosaurs all looked at him as he continued to explain "And sometimes, when the negative emotion accumulates enough, it can start shaping itself into darkness, and once it is formed, this darkness can shape itself, and become a Hollow."

"Of course, this is rare, and it may take years to happen." Said Uri, and Swift continued "But when it happens, it creates Hollows that are based on the basic emotion what was stained in them. These Hollows have only the instincts and they lack a Master to control them, so they are the ones who tend to lost control and go savage the easier."

"And that is why they are also the most dangerous of all!" Nettle finished.

"Ohhh." Sais the kids, all impressed for knowing that such a thing could exist. It was somewhat scary that bad feelings could take shape of something that could actually hurt you. It was like, some kind of thing that could only happen into scary stories, or sleep terrors. Indeed, it made them all feel uneasy and scared.

Littlefoot noticed, and he said to his friends "Don't worry." And they all looked at him as he smiled at them "As the Order of Leaf and Claw, is our mission and our duty to fight the Hollows, as well as the ones who make use of them. We will protect all of you."

This seemed to make all of his friends relax, and they all smiled back at him. They all knew that Littlefoot had never let them down not even one time before. And they all had seen what their longneck friend could do now. They all knew that if he said that he was going to protect them, he  _was_  going to protect them. So, that was why they felt like they had nothing to worry about.

They all trusted Littlefoot, and they all knew that he was worth this trust.

* * *

"But why can't I even stay near Littlefoot now?"

"Because we can't trust him anymore!"

Cera and her father were having an argument. Old Topps had just told her to stay away from the longneck and from all his friends who were part of this new "little group" of his, not mattering if they were sharpteeth or not.

"But we've known Littlefoot for years!" Cera said, and her father snorted back.

"And now he walks around with a bunch of sharpteeth, and he does that crazy things and now he doesn't even tell us the truth." He said, his tone was nonchalantly.

"He told us!" she said to her father, "He told us about the 'order' or whatever, he told use where he had been, and he told us about their magic and their mission and the things they do!"

"Yes, he did." Said Topps to his daughter "But there is something else on this, something he is not telling, and don't say to me that you haven't also noticed."

Cera could not answer this, instead, she only looked at the ground. Yes, she had noticed something strange about the way Littlefoot and the big sharptooth traded looks during their explanation. She couldn't explain this feeling, but, she had a feeling like there was something off about the whole story.

She didn't felt like Littlefoot had lied to her. No, he would never do that. However, since that hour she had a strange feeling, like Littlefoot was doing something that he probably hiding something. It was like there was some kind of secret among him and the others that he was not telling his friends, as if he thought that he could not trust them.

Topps took his daughter's silence as his answer, and he said "This whole story seems strange to me." He had his famous tone of someone who didn't trusted anyone and thought that everyone was up to something "I see the way he and his new friends and his 'teacher' trade looks. They are hiding something, and I'm gonna find out what it is!" he said, turning around "Until then, you will stay way from that longneck. That is an order!"

And he walked away, leaving Cera behind, alone with her own thoughts.

Indeed, she agreed that there was something up. This whole story seemed strange. Why would someone be attacking the Valley now? And how did these guys all knew about it?

And why the Valley as being attacked?

There were a lot of questions that Cera felt like were left without answer by that explanation that they gave. And the worst part was that Littlefoot himself seemed not to be willing to answer these questions. As if he was afraid of telling the truth.

Littlefoot would tell them anything, or at least that was what she had believed. She wanted to trust Littlefoot and to believe that he would always be honest to them and always tell them what he was going through. However, she couldn't help but agree with her father that there was something very strange into the way he was acting and the way he seemed to have secrets along with the members of the order.

It was almost as if Littlefoot had grew apart from them, and that he could not trust them anymore to tell whatever it was. Thinking like that made Cera feel mad at him for not considering them good enough to know. And there was something else, like it was a feeling of betrayal, a feeling that she only remembered feeling that time that she discovered that Littlefoot had lied about the sweet flowers and the tinysaurs. This made her feel bad about it, and she could not pin-point exactly what kind of feeling was it. But it felt almost like Littlefoot was lying straight at her once again.

As she pondered about it, she started thinking that maybe her father was right.

Maybe it would truly better to stay way from Littlefoot. At least for now.

With this thought, she sighed as she started heading back at her nest.

* * *

The group of friends soon was making their way to the meeting place where Terry had finished setting the first group for the patrol. It was formed by a clubtail and two threehorn, and also a big and strong longneck. He was now just giving them the last advices when he noticed his group coming at him.

"Ah, you are there, good, I was really going to send someone to search for you." He said to the younger ones "I need someone to lead the first patrol before the Bright Circle sets, anyone would like to offer him or herself?"

"Huh! Me!" said Nettle, raising her hand, and Terry said "You will probably have to stay up for most of the night, and there is a chance of having to fight Hollows."

Nettle's smiled vanished and she slowly lowered her hand. Swift snorted softly, and he said "Well, if no one else offers than I guess it will have to be me." As he stepped forward.

Some members of the group shared a look. Of course they seemed to be worried at the aspect of a sharptooth leading their group. Swift noticed it, and he looked at them "Do you have a problem with that?" he asked, almost as if he was threatening, and this made a few of the group step back as they shook their heads. Petrie also yelped as he hid behind Littlefoot's head.

Swift cast him a glance over his shoulder, seeing the trembling flyer behind Littlefoot's head. He growled a little "Coward." He said, loud enough for who was near to listen. Littlefoot's friends all flinched, and Littlefoot gave him a hard stare, while Nettle remained out, and Uri only rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well what Swift thought about people who got scared of anything.

Terry looked at him, and then back at the others "Any other volunteer?"

"You can count on me!" said Uri stepping forward, and making a dramatic pose "I'd like to see a Hollow try to approach this Valley when they see me! Ha!" he said, making a pose as if he was delivering a blow with his horns into an invisible foe. Nettle chuckled at him and so did Littlefoot, while Swift only rolled his eyes.

Littlefoot felt a nudge on his leg, and he looked down to see Chomper nudging him, with a smile on his face, as if he was encouraging him to step forward. Littlefoot looked at the rest of his friends, and all of them nodded at him with smiles. Littlefoot knew perfectly what they meant, and he smiled back, and he too took a step forward.

"I'd like to lead the patrols too."

Terry looked at them, and he smiled "Well, good to see that all of you have initiative."

"Most of us." Said Swift into a neutral tone as he shot a glance at Nettle, who looked at the ground. Terry gave him a glare that was enough to make him stay quiet, and Littlefoot's friends could not help but wonder why that sailback was so mean.

"So, I guess that now we have to decide which one of you will take the first shift of the first patrol."

As Terry said that, the three dinosaurs shared a look among themselves, as if they were asking the same silent question. "How?" and Terry looked at them, as if he was really expecting someone to stand out and simply offer himself.

"Well, since no one else seems to be willing, I guess it will have to be me!" said Uri, standing in front, and Swift said "Who said that no one else is willing?"

"Guys, I can make the patrols too!" said Littlefoot, and Terry surprised them as he said "Littlefoot, you have just passed by a hard time not even a few hours ago." The others all looked at him "I have been thinking and maybe it is better if you rest for tonight and take on after your wounds have healed better. Just to be sure that you are in perfect shape."

"Yeah, we would hate to have to make your burial after our first night in your new home." Said Swift as if it was something that you would say to someone at any time. Littlefoot took it well, but his friends all shared a worried look.

How could he say that with such neutrality!?

Uri, on the other hand, seemed to think it a bit funny, as he chuckled, and Nettle, well, she seemed to share the opinion of Littlefoot's friends, as she got worried about it.

"Well, I guess this leaves the two of us left." Said Uri, looking at Swift. There were a few moments, of silence, and then, Uri said "Well, I guess we might have to fight for it."

The dinosaurs nearby mumbled and shared looks, while Littlefoot, Nettle and Terry only looked their eyes. Swift looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he said "Why it seems that you always find a way to show yourself?" it was a direct question to Uri "You just want an excuse to showing them what you can do."

"Yeah, I do." He said with a smirk, almost proudly "I think everybody deserves to see the amazing guy I am."

Littlefoot chuckled, while Swift rolled his eyes, and Terry said "Well, I agreed to keep the training while we are here." The eyes turned to him as he said that "And it is almost the time that we usually train, anyway."

"So is that?" Swift asked "We simply will make a tournament to decide who will lead the first patrol?"

"Seems fine by me." Said Uri, and Swift looked at him as the threehorn continued "And I guess you should not have problems with that. Unless you are scared." The threehorn finished with a smirk.

Swift looked at him for a few moments, and he opened a weak smile "If you insists." He said with a defying tone "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you, after all, I don't want to put you in a bad shape so you cant' fight the Hollows when they arrive."

Uri laughed, as he said "Well, I since you say it, I guess I'll go easy on you and will not beat you too hard!" he said, and he said it mocking. They could notice that they were kidding, all the ones who were around, still, it seemed that the two dinosaurs were really talking it seriously about their actually fighting each other. And sure, the other dinosaurs all around were quite worried.

After all, a threehorn and a sharptooth fighting each other? Even if it was just a "training" as they had put it, the chances of blood start spilling from that were actually quite high.

"So, I think we should search for a good place for it, then?" asked Terry, and the dinosaurs agreed, and soon, they were moving on, all of them. For now everyone had curiosity into how this was going to end.

* * *

Cera was back into her nest, watching her little sister run after her own tail and giggle as it seemed to always escape her. She watched as her little sister seemed not to have a single worry on the world other than caring for its own life and caring about food and having fun.

Cera sighed as she looked at her innocent young sister, and she started missing long ago when she too was also so naïve and innocent, and without worries. She missed these times.

Sure, that was somewhat before she knew her friends, and they all became together. In that time her father was still being very strict about her playing with other species, and he clearly did not approved it. However, even her father soon was having to change his opinions and outlooks. Yet, he never totally outgrew that, and he was still having problems to actually trust strangers, and he seemed to be more inclined to trust another threehorn than anyone else.

And now, right at that moment, he seemed to be back at mistrusting the longneck she called her friend: Littlefoot.

But… he didn't had a reason?

Littlefoot first vanished for a long time without talking to anyone, not even her, not even his friends, nor even his own grandparents. And them he came back having these strange powers that he explained only as "magic". And he brought with him other dinosaurs, among them sharpteeth, which all are strangers and who neither her nor anyone else in the Great Valley has ever seen before, and talking about another Valley that no one knows about and part of a new group that no one knows or even heard about. And not to mention that, by the time he was disappeared he never once tried to visit or make contact, not even to tell others were he was or if he was okay. And by what Cera had heard, maybe he had actually had chances.

And now there was this whole story about "Hollows" and the enemies of this "Order" and also the part that Littlefoot and the others were actually not telling them.

Yes, Cera could notice that there was something that neither the big sharptooth, neither the other dinosaurs, and not even Littlefoot was telling them. She could notice it, and also, she had a feeling in her guts that told her that there was something else that they were just not telling the residents of the Great Valley. Maybe it were her instincts, but she only felt that the feeling was there and that it was not going way, actually, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this feeling was actually right.

The more she felt like agreeing with her father that she also wanted answers. She wanted to know just what they were up to, as well as he father did. There was a lot of things on this story that were left unexplained.

If the Hollows, as they called it, really could be sued by other dinosaurs then why they have never seem it or heard about it in all their time and all their adventures and explorations they had? By the way, how did they never heard about their group? Something like that, made out by both leaf eaters and sharpteeth, and with the abilities they had. She just could not believe that they had passed this long without anyone having ever noticed that they existed.

The only explanation she could think about was that they were hiding or something. And of course, this line of thinking lead her to more questions and more doubts. It was seeming that all about this mysterious group was surrounded in mystery. Maybe that was the source of all her father's mistrusting, the lack of clear answers and the mystery that surrounded all these strange dinosaurs that claimed that they had came to help.

And also, if they knew so much of the Hollows and if they knew that they were going to attack the Valley, then how they didn't knew who or why was it? It was something that didn't fit. And the way that Littlefoot shared a look with all of them as they talked. As if he was asking for permission to say something. As if it was a secret that they were keeping.

Littlefoot had never lied to them. Cera knew it, but also, he was not telling the whole truth also. It was almost as if he could not trust them anymore that he was part of this new group.

As if he was not part of his previous group anymore. As if he was no longer one of them.

Thinking of that made Cera feel really bad. However, she could just not avoid it. Yes, she was very happy for seeing Littlefoot again, as were al of her friends, but she could clearly notice that the longneck was acting slightly different now, as if he was deeply worried to guilty with something. This only helped her feeling that the longneck knew something and was just not telling them; either by his own decision or by the influence of these other dinosaurs.

But, if that was truth, if that was really that Littlefoot now was keeping secrets from them, if it was really truth that the longneck seemed to be starting to turn into someone else… then how would they be able to trust him?

As this question fixated in Cera's mind, the world around her seemed to go colder, even with the Bright Circle shinning above her, and even the pleasant laughter of Tricia near her seemed to lose its joy as that feeling that she could not quite well name spread across her body and mind.

* * *

_The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy._

_**Thomas J. Watson** _

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Swift x Uri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the attack of the Hollows not seeming to be imminent, the members of the Order of Leaf and Claw decide to use their time to practice their combat and magic skills. Of course, their way of training surely attracts from curious eyes from all kinds..

The Bright Circle was half on its way across the sky, and it was right now passing the middle of the sky and signaling that the day was on its half. Under its watchful eyes, the threehorn and sailback both take positions as they both got ready for their fight.

Terry, the big bonecrusher sharptooth, stood in the halfway between them, looking to each side as he saw if each one of them got ready for the fight. While this, the rest of the dinosaurs who were with them took place at a certain distance, al of them wanting to see what was going to happen.

Littlefoot, Nettle, the rest of his friends and the dinosaurs who would make the patrol were all there, and they were watching intently to see what would come out of this "training". Some of them were actually ready to see blood, since they knew that the sailbacks were well known for being ruthless and savage when they fought, and that threehorn were very competitive and very aggressive when in a real fight.

"Don't worry." Littlefoot assured his friends when they shared their worried with him "These two might get carried away when they are training, but they will not kill each other. Terry will stop them before they do that."

"Well, that is good." Chomper said, looking at his longneck friend, and Petrie flew near Littlefoot's head and he said, "They get carried away? How much away?"

Littlefoot looked to the flyer, and he said, "Well, lets just say that there is a reason why we are at a distance." His tone was enough to make Petrie worry. Yes, indeed, Littlefoot had insisted for everyone to remain at a certain distance from the place where the training was actually going to take place. They were not too far that it would hard to see, but also not to close that they would end up caught in the middle of the fight. Some would think that they were also a little farther than it would be needed, since the fight could not reach them from far. Yet, Littlefoot insisted that they would remain somewhat far, for "safety reasons", as the longneck had put it.

Terry looked to the threehorn and sailback, who were on opposite sides, and he said, "Okay, this will be like the trainings in Leaf and Claw Valley!" His tone was serious,a dn he seemed to be making it clear that he was not kidding, as he said the next words "This means that you two must NOT cause excessive damage to each other nor to the place around you. And also means that you must avoid hitting someone who is not the opponent."

As Terry said that, the other dinosaurs shared a look, and they all gave one more step back. Terry seemed not to notice as the others, save for Littlefoot and Nettle, had backed away a little more, as he continued, "So, I guess you already know the motto of the basic training. You will fight each other using your abilities and also some of your magic. The objective of this training is to incapacitate the opponent _without_ killing nor causing severe damage!"

The dinosaurs didn't stopped sharing looks, as this thing seemed to be really serious for the sharptooth to make so much emphasis that they should not kill each other. Still, Littlefoot and Nettle both seemed relatively calm and confident. They only watched carefully, as Terry looked at each other, and he said, "Are you ready?"

Swift looked at the threehorn in front of him, and he uncrossed his arms and he stretched them on the sides of his body, flexing each one of his claws, as he said "Ready."

Terry then looked at Uri, who had a confident smile as he said, "You don't even need to ask!" He adopted a fighting pose as he scratched the ground, as if he was really getting ready to charge at the sharptooth in front of him, "I was born ready!"

With that said, Terry had nothing else to ask, and he only said, "May the best win."

"That is what I plan!" said Uri with a confident, smile, and Terry looked at both, before he gave one-step backwards, getting out of their line of attack.

"Begin!" he said, and in a moment, both Uri and Swift were charging at each other. Uri was with his horns directed to Swift as if he was really charging at him, while Uri was running at him with his spine straight as an arrow to gain speed. They both had their heads pointed at each other. Uri let out a battle cry while Swift kept silent as he ran in his direction.

All the watchers around looked as they were about to collide, and many of them, even being at distance, braced for the impact that they knew that soon would come. Terry simply looked impassive as he watched the two charging at each other. Nettle, like Petrie and Ducky closed their eyes, not wanting to see that. Littlefoot, on the other hand… I mean, paw, was more relaxed, for he had already seem and participated some training sessions with both Uri and Swift, and he knew them both quite well. Still, even he flinched a little at the immediate prospect of a possibly collision between them, and the possible damage that could come from it.

* * *

Mr. Threehorn was walking across the Valley. He didn't had a certain direction, he only wanted to walk around to see if this would help him cool his head down. He was a pile of nerves with this whole thing about the magic dinosaurs (he could not belive he was thinking it seriously) and the longneck, and also the way that everybody seemed so inclined to simply believe him.

Dammit, anyone could notice that the young one and these new "friends" of his' were up to something! Mr. Threehorn didn't knew what yet, but he was totally sure that it was directly related to all that happened today, and he was sure that it was also related to other things that would happen other things that also were related to them.

The old threehorn just could not trust them, and nothing was going to change his mind. He just knew that there was something totally off about them, and he knew that they had secrets. They wanted them to simply trust all of them? Bah! Like he would! He was most likely going to stay near them only enough to discogver just what they were up to and then make sure that all the others in the Valley knew, and then he would just-

His trail of thought was interrupted as he heard something like a threehorn's cry. His head perked immediately as he suddenly rushed forward, and he arrived in the top of a small mount in time to see a threehorn and a sailback running top each other, about to collide.

* * *

Swift and Uri were just a few meters from each other, and they were about to collide, and in this single moment, during a second, Swift smirked. He then jumped, and Uri had only time to look surprised at him as the sailback was over his head, literally. The next thing he knew was that Swift's paw came down at his face, stepping on him, and then, he knew that Swift was walking over his back quickly as he stumbled to the ground, almost flipping over himself.

Swift jumped off his back and then he… well… swiftly landed on the ground, landing perfectly on his feet while Uri reeled his chin in the ground, almost bending his back as he reeled, and then he fell back to the ground on his side, and he groaned as he tried to get up.

Swift smiled at him, as he said, "See what happens when you get too cocky?"

"Oh, screw you!" said Uri, trying to get back on his feet. While this, the other dinosaurs all walked around admired at the sailback's ability.

"Wow! That as a good move!" said Chomper, and his friends all agreed with him. Littlefoot could not help but chuckle as he had more than once saw that Swift could be very skilled in battle, especially one on one. There were times like that in which the sailback really lived up to his name. He showed some agility and ability of fighting that were combined with his natural strength and passion for fight. This made of him one of the best fighters around. Littlefoot knew that pretty well, and once again the sailback was showing that.

Mr. Threehorn flinched a little when he saw the sailback step on the young threehorn's face and making him reel in the ground. He was now easily recognizing both dinosaurs as members of the order, and despite his opinion about them, he could not help but feel slightly sorry for the threehorn. That surely had hurt, and in more ways than one. Being stepped on like that, man, it was a hard blow in the ego. It was degrading, even more than simply being eaten.

He is probably ashamed right now. Was the thought on the old Threehorn's mind, and he kept looking. But, on thinking about it, the threehorn was really quite small for a threehorn of the age he appeared to be, and it would surely be a disadvantage. Still, the sailback was almost as big as him, and so it seemed to balance the battle. Right? Well, he was going to need to watch it to see.

Uri soon was recovering, and he got ready in place as he looked at Swift. The sailback looked back at him as the smile returned to his lips "Yeah, you are still quick, but I'm fast too." He said, scratching the ground, and he smiled at the sailback.

Uri looked back at him, and he flexed his claws as he walked in direction to the threehorn calmly, and they both started to circle each other. Along the way, Swift passed by a rock, and he passed his claws over it, as if he was sharpening them, and left some claw marks on the solid rock.

The ones who viewed this got worried, for it seemed that the sharptooth was reading his claws for a lethal fight. The members of the order, however, only looked impassive, and Uri was actually able to smile wider at the sailback, as he snorted softly as he kept circling him and he circled him back.

After a moment, they both stopped, and Uri cried out as he charged at Swift again. The sailback only rolled his eyes before he also dashed in direction to the threehorn.

The others looked at that. He was really going for it again? After it had just failed? Was he out of options, or he was just a little more stubborn than most threehorns? However, Littlefoot knew Uri well enough to know that the threehorn was not stupid. He knew that he knew better than to simply go to action in a stupid way. The threehorn probably had a plan.

The threehorn and sailback ran in direction to each other, and when they were coming closer, Swift gave a jump. For a moment, it seemed that it was about to repeat what just happened. However, I the moment the sailback got in the air, Uri smirked. He planted his forepaws in the ground, and used them to twist his body on his side, in a way that he could turn his body slightly, and send his hind paw against Swift.

The sailback barely had time to react as the threehorn's paw connected with his chest, impacting him hard and forcing him to stop in the air and be propelled back. Swift landed on his chest on the ground, while Uri moved his body and landed back on his four paws as he looked back at Swift, who coughed a little. Uri smiled as he looked at the sailback who was now getting up, and he said, "See what happens when you get too cocky?"

The dinosaurs all looked amazed, and Nettle was on her feet, applauding "Yeah! Go on, Uri! You are also doing great, Swift!"

"Now that was a good move." Said a clubtail from the group, and the rest of the adults nodded. Littlefoot chuckled as he knew that Uri would never simply jump into action like that… Okay, he would just jump to action like that, but he was smart, and he would always come up with a plan to help him win a fight.

Old Topps looked a little surprised at the threehorn. Now that was an impressive move. He used it in quite a very agile way and he showed to have a very quick thinking in using the sharptooth's tactics against himself. But, on thinking again, sure, sharpteeth never were too smart, and the boy was still being a threehorn. It was expected for him to know that he would be able to keep up a good fight.

Topps was getting increasingly interested into the fight, and he decided to keep looking from the distance.

Uri looked at Swift, who got up without problems, and he stood there for a moment, looking at Uri as he used one claw to massage the place on his chest where Uri had hit him. It was bruised, and it was probably going to hurt a little later. However, Swift kept a neutral expression as he lowered his claw, and he sighed as he looked at the threehorn.

He only sighed, and tapped his chest, as if he was cleaning out the dust fomr his body, and he looked at the threehorn again. He gave off a light smirk, ad he said, "Nice move."

Uri smirked as he said, "Thank you."

Swift nodded, and he got back in position, with his arms close to his body, and he dashed to Uri. The threehorn had little time to think as Swift was very close to him with one claw raised and ready to deliver a blow. The threehorn needed to quickly position his head and use his horn to parry the attack from the sailback.

They both stod there for a moment, as f they were fighting for a god footing, and then, after a few seconds, they separated, in time for Swift to spin around and slap his tail in Uri's face. And then, one second after, he raised his leg and kicked Uri with the reel of his paw.

The threehorn gave a step back, dazzle, and he barely had time to react when he felt Swift's clawed hands grab his horn and hold his head in place as he raised his leg and kneeled Uri right in the chin, once again forcing him to stumble back, asking his head to shake the dizziness that just came.

Okay, now the threehorn was having troubles. The dinosaurs ala round looked intently to see who was going to come out victories, while Nettle was cheering "Yeah, Swift! You are the best! Don't give up, Uri!"

Uri soon recovered as he shook his head, and he looked at Swift, who was still looking neutrally at him, and he was circling him calmly again, as a predator stalking the prey, getting ready to attack. Uri quickly got in position, and he started looking at him as he circled him, not moving but being ready to react instantly if he was attacked. It was really seeming to be like a real fight between a threehorn and a sharptooth in the wilderness, and they both seemed to be taking this fight seriously as they looked at each other.

Swift them made his move, running against Uri's side. The threehorn quickly moved, and he used his horns. Swift countered by using his teeth to grab one of them and hold on tight, keeping him in place. Uri retaliated by raising his forepaw and using it to give a "punch" into Swift's belly, making the sailback let go and stumble back a few steps. Uri used this chance to run to him and to jump in front of him, once again punching him in the face. A three of his teeth flew from his mouth as he spun around, and laid flat on his belly.

Some dinosaurs flinched when they saw the sailback being hit, and even more when they saw the teeth flying from his mouth. Chomper held his face as if he had been hit, and he made a face as he saw Swift losing a few teeth. Sure, he knew now that when a sharptooth lost teeth like that they grew back in a few days, but he was still somewhat disturbed by seeing them fly like that, for he knew that for making teeth get out like that you need to hit a sharptooth in the face real hard.

Mr. Threehorn got admired by the strength that the young threehorn had. You needed to be very brave to let a sharptooth get its teeth on you, and even more to purposely move close to its mouth to deliver a blow like that. Also, you needed to be very sure that you were not going to miss and also be skilled. Indeed, the kid was brave, and that was for sure.

Swift groaned as he started getting back up, and he clutched his face, which was already blackened from the bruise where he had been hit. He flinched a little, and looked at the ground, at the few of his teeth that had flew from his mouth. He passed his tongue over his gum, and he felt the area where his teeth had got out from. They ere very close top each other, and moving over the area, Swift felt another two teeth which were somewhat gotten loose by the attack.

With a neutral expression, he raised his claw to his mouth, and gently grabbed these two loose teeth with his clawed hand. Then, he tugged at them, yanking them off his mouth. Swift looked at these teeth, and he let them drop to the ground casually, and he looked at Uri.

The threehorn was looking back at him, and Swift could still feel his face hurting and slightly throbbing in the place he had been hit. He looked at Uri as he said "So… them we will play rough."

And then, without another word, he dashed forward, running in direction to Uri. And this time, the threehorn barely had time to react, as the sailback came very close to him and swiped his claws fast, hitting Uri in the face.

Uri cried out as he stumbled back a step as he felt the burning sensation of his skin beign pierced, as Swift's claws opened a gash on his cheek. He could feel a line of blood leaking from the open wound as he looked at Swift, who had a little of his blood on his claw, and was looking at him indifferently.

All the others flinched at this, even Nettle yelped as she covered her mouth, and even Littlefoot flinched a little. Yeah, it seemed that Swift finally decided to take the battle to a serious level.

"Oh! They are fighting serious!" said Ruby, and Chomper remained silent by her side, while Petrie said "Oh, me can't look!" as he covered his face with his wings, not wanting top see a bloodshed now.

Even Topps looked at it. The sharptooth was now looking at the threehorn as it had his blood on his claws. He was attacking someone who was supposed to be on his side. And they even talked about all leaf eaters and sharpteeth begin friends. Bah! His tail bone! Indeed, he knew that now the threehorn was most likely in serious trouble.

Uri passed his paw over his cheek, wiping out some blood, he looked at it, and he smiled "So, we are taking of the safety now?" he asked with a good hint of humor "So, I guess I can fight for real now." And with that said, he rushed against Swift. The sailback looked at him as he came very close, and he stopped just a few feet away, and he planted his feet on the ground as he spun his body and tried to kick Swift with his hind legs.

The sailback, however, was quickly able to dodge by jumping in place. However, as he did it, Uri kept spinning his body until he was facing Swift again. He smirked briefly as he moved forward and he moved his head horizontally. The tip of one of his horns caught Swift in the chest, and opened a gash on his body.

The sailback took a few steps back as blood leaked from the fresh wound on his chest. Uri looked back at him as a few drops of blood leaked from his horn. All the ones around thought that tis battle was becoming a bit too serious, and that maybe ti was the time of someone stopping them. However, both Terry and Littlefoot remained somewhat impassive, Terry more than the longneck, as they both knew that the training could get like that, and yet, they both were ready to quickly got up and intervene if things got too out of hand.

_Now that was a very good move._ Thought Topps as he saw the wound that the threehorn was able to inflict to the sharptooth. That had indeed been a very smart move. And he also noticed that, if he wanted, the young threehorn could have rammed his horns on the sailback's belly and had ended him rather quick. He had chosen not to do it. This showed that he was not taking the fight as serious as he should, and also, he actually seemed to be acting as if it was some kind of game, as it was possible to see from far by the slightly smirk that there was on his face. It was a game to him? What, it was because he lived along sharpteeth and so he got some of his bloodlust tendencies?

Swift looked at the gash on his chest, and he passed his claw over it, getting some of his own blood, and he licked it from his claws. He looked at Uri, who was smirking slightly at him, and he was able to smile back "Yeah, as you said." He spoke, and the amulet around his neck started glowing softly. "I guess I can fight for real now."

Uri took the hint, and the ring on his left forepaw also started glowing, as he smirked softly at the sharptooth in front of it. Littlefoot noticed, and he said, "They will start using magic now."

His friends all shared looks and they watched intently, to see just what was going to happen now.

Swift moved his body back, as if he was taking a big lungful of air, and he screamed " _ **Fire Breath!**_ " And as he opened his mouth, a great torrent of white flames came out of his mouth. Everybody save the members of the order gasped at that. Uri, whoever, only smirked, as he slammed his left paw in the ground, and he screamed " ** _Shadow Wall!_** "

And so, as that, a mass of shadows gathered in the ground in front of him and raised in the shape of a wall. The flames collided with this wall and they were diverged from touching the threehorn by it. They passed around the wall as the sailback kept blowing them from his open mouth, as if he was roaring. Uri remained behind the wall of shadows, as he could still feel the heat of Uri's flames around him as they swept around his wall, even if they could not touch him. He still had a slightly smile on his face, as he thought I still got it.

The dinosaurs around who were not of the order all jumped back, and watched in amazement as the sailback breathed scorching flames over the threehorn, who blocked it with what seemed to be a wall made out of pure blackness. The flames were white and they were clearly very hot, for they all could feel the heat from the place where they stood.

"What is that!?" said Chomper, and Littlefoot simply said, "The Fire Breath. Swift is taking it seriously."

"Littlefoot, is it their magic?" asked Ducky, and Littlefoot looked at her, as he said "Yeah, it is."

He looked back at the scene, as he explained, "As I said, each member of the order has their own magic, a magic that takes different shapes, varying highly form one dinosaur to the other. For instance Swift has Fire Magic."

As he said that, Swift stopped breathing fire in a straight line, and instead, he started blowing a few balls of flame, which blasted in the wall, and he started running as he kept blowing the balls.

"His magic allows him to tap into the power of the fire, and so he can conjure flames at will, and use them to fight." Littlefoot continued to explain at his friends as Swfit was now running around Uri, who had taken down the wall, and was blowing balls of pure flame at him. "And his fire is not like normal fire. His fire is very hot. According to Terry, his fire magic is one of the hottest and most powerful variants of the fire that he ever saw."

As Littlefoot said that, Swift took a huge breath, and he blew a ball of shearing-white fire in direction to Uri. The Threehorn had to quickly five to the side to avoid the ball, that exploded on impact, sending debris and dust flying around. Uri coughed a little as he recovered form the impact, and he looked over, to see a big and burned up crater where the fireball had hit.

While the others looked scared, he smiled, and he turned to Swift, and said "If that had hit it would had been kinda ugly." His tone denoted humor, and he smirked at the sailback. Even Mr. Threehorn himself flinched when he saw that fireball hit its mark. He saw the damage it had made to the ground in the place where the young threehorn once was. He shuttered at the thought of what would have happened if that had hit its mark.

"So, we are playing rough, right?" Uri said, positioning himself looking straight at Swift, who only looked back at him neutrally. He then said, "Look, how about we solve this without the flashy tricks, huh?" It sounded just slightly as if it was a challenge, and for a long moment both Swift and Uri looked at each other right in the eyes. And then, Swift gave a nod at him, as if to say that he agreed and was accepting it.

Uri smiled, and he breathed, and soon, his horns started glowing.

" ** _Piercing Light!_** " The threehorn cried out as his horns seemed to be instantly enveloped into light. And this light grew over his horns, forming a shape over them, and making them grow. Soon enough, he had new horns made out of light over his normal horns. These horns looked bigger, longer, sharper and also heavier than his regular horns. These horns looked like they would be very heavy if they were real, but they were made only of light, so they had virtually no weight, and also, they looked to be really mean and like they could make some serious damage.

Uri smirked as he moved his new horns, and everyone looked amazed at it. It looked very much like what Littlefoot himself had done just a few hours ago, a horn made of light. And they had a guess that it could do the same things that Littlefoot's horn of light could do, which was not little.

Uri looked at Swift as he pointed his new and shining horns at him, and scratched the ground with his paw, as if he was tainting the sailback to look at him.

Swift only looked at him, and he closed his eyes. He stretched his arms to his sides, and opened his hands with the palms turned up. He let out a few deep breaths as his body seemed to glow slightly with something form the inside, as if he had starts inside his body. This glow focused on his arms, and them on his hands. Soon, the light seemed to burst into flickering white flames on his palms. Swift kept his eyes closed as he moved his hands into swift moves, and he united the two flames, and they both grew together, and he moved his arms, leaving a trail of white flames around, and finally, he moved them up.

A trails of flames shot up from his hands as if it was form a smoking mountain, and it took the shape of a head of an adult sailback, which had its big mouth opened in a silent roar. Everybody looked at it, for a moment thinking it was going to attack Uri, but them, Swift cried out " ** _Heat Booster!_** " And then, the head of the sailback turned around and looked down at him, before coming down on his direction with its mouth open. It hit him square and it burst into a ball of white-hot flames.

Everybody around gasped in shock and retreated a step, and even Topps almost stumbled back as he saw that. However, the members of the order all remained slightly impassive, and they simply watched.

Soon, then swirling flames started to gather together in the place that had been the center of the explosion. Soon, they seemed to be gathering into a ball into the center, and Swift's silhouette was clearly visible in the inside, standing crouched. Everybody looked amazed as the flames kept gathering, until they seemed to be a layer of flames just above Swift's body. And then, they all seemed to vanish, and they left Swift in the middle. However, he looked somehow different. It almost seemed like his skin was shining, as well as his claws, almost as if his body was still covered by the flames. Swift opened his eyes, and they had an intense shine, as if it had crimson colored flames into his eyes. He hoofed, and a small tongue of flame came out of his nostrils.

The now glowing sailback got into what seemed to be a fighting pose as he looked at Uri, and then, he said, "Ready."

It seemed to be the clue that Uri was expecting, for in that same moment, he charged in direction to Uri, his horns aimed at the glowing sailback. Swift remained in place as he waited for Uri to come at him. Just then the threehorn was above him, Swift moved out of the way with blinding speed, and he stood by Uri's side, and he used his leg to deliver a kick on his side.

This single kick sent Uri reeling back in the ground, several feet way. As he stopped, he coughed up a little, as he flinched to get up. It seemed that he was goingt o be really bruished in that place and he suspected that one or two of his ribs had broken with the impact. However, his horns were still glowing, showing that they were still at full force, and soon, he was facing back at Swift.

The sailback was still looking at him, and he brought a hand to his side. There was a small gash on the side of his body, caused by the horns, and it was leaking blood. The wound also seemed to be letting out a few flames, and also some crimson smoke, as if it was his vaporized blood, as if Swift's inside was really schorcing in the inside. Yet, it seemed that the sailback was little minding that. He simply looked back at Uri, who was smiling at him, and then, he smiled too. And they both carged at each other again.

"Wow! These two can fight!" said someone nearby, one of the adults who would make a patrol. Sure, the battle had already been impressive in the first few minutes, and now that it had magic added to it, it was even more amazing. Littlefoot smiled as he himself could not help but get amazed too each time that he saw one of them into a fight. Truth to be told, Littlefoot himself didn't knew each one of them was going to win. Both were strong-minded and very stubborn when it came to fights, and to other things, by the way, and neither of them was going to give up. Also, they were both very skilled fighters. Swift was one of the best in combat, while Uri was one of the best strategists, and he could quickly make plans of attack and reaction to be able to fend off against any enemy. And also, they both had very strong magic, and while Swift's magic was clearly far more destructive, Uri also had his own variety of magic, and it allowed him for several uses, and when combined with his ability to make strategies and his natural fighting skills, he became a foe to be considered.

Both of them were very admirable foes, and Littlefoot knew that they both put up a good fight. Tough Littlefoot had already heard that they both had some training sessions together, this was the first time that he was actually seeing them come into a clash like that. It was being a very interesting experience, and to be honest, putting aside the thing of the patrols, and the evident danger that there was in it, and even the growing possibility that one of them could seriously hurt the other, Littlefoot was really curious just to see which one of them was going to come out victorious.

Swift was very close to Uri when the threehorn tired to ram his horns on him, however, the sailback reacted quickly and he grabbed Uri's horns, forcing him to keep them down. However, Uri used a big push of strength in order to raise his horns again and release them from Swift's grip.

However, Swift kept his grip I these horns. He flipped himself around as he changed his grip on them, and he landed on the back of Uri's neck-crest, still holding tight on his horns. Swift pulled them hard, and the strength he put would have broken normal horns, but these ones were much more resilient. Still, when he pushed like that, he made Uri move his head backwards and he forced him to tilt his body backwards, raising his forepaws from the ground, and he almost fell on his back, and Swift kept pulling slightly at him, to keep him on his grip.

Uri, at some point, got tired of it, and started jumping and twisting his body, almost as if he was a crazy bull as he tried to force Swift to jump out of his back.

The sailback was able to hold on, however, as Uri's struggling became more frantic, he was soon forced to jump out of his back and land back on the ground. And as soon as he was on the ground, eh received a kick from Uri's hind leg on the face, making him stumble back.

Swift soon recovered, however, and he brought his hand to his face. It was maybe the third bruise he got in this fight, and they were starting to hurt. He was glad to see that none of his teeth had become loose of this hit, as he passed his tongue over them, and he looked at Uri, to see the threehorn looking defiantly at him as he seemed to be ready for another round.

Indeed, once again that threehorn proved that he had as much fighting spirit as Swift himself. The sailback admired him for that. Still, he was not going to simply deliver him the victory just for that. Even because doing so would be somewhat an offense to the threehorn, since he was giving so hard to actually have a real victory. In honor to him, the best Swift could do was fight with all he had.

So, with this in mind, Swift quickly advanced against him, and attacked with his claws, the boost of power gave by his magic made his attacks even more powerful. However, Uri used his enhanced horns to parry every single attack that Swift threw at him, making it a parrying game in which both of them seemed to be drawn. Even because Uri also tried to score some hits into Swift, but the sailback was able to parry it with his claws, or even to simply dodge by moving out of the way of the horns.

The dinosaurs who looked at it all watched in amazement as both dinosaurs seemed to be amazing fighters, and Nettle was cheering for both dinosaurs. She knew that only one could win, however, both of them were her friends, and she didn't wanted to other to lose. Terry watched carefully, ready to stop the battle if things were getting to out of hand. And Littlefoot, he was watching amazed at their fighting abilities. It was rare to have a chance to see them really fighting so hard like that.

Even Topps was amazed. He was mesmerized by the shows of magic he had shown till now, and he had to admit, he was impressed by the spirit that the young threehorn had. Indeed, that boy really was a fighter. If he was not on the side of these strange guys, Topps thought that he might could be welcome in the Valley, and maybe help to protect it.

And Uri could really make a good job at it, by the way he fought. He made quick and agile attacks with his horns, jamming them forward or moving them by the sides and up and down as if they were blades, and Swift was able to keep up with him with his enhanced physical.

At a certain moment, Uri decided to try a new approach, and so, he raised his head as to hit Swift horizontally. As expected, Swift dodged, and as he did, he was met with a forepaw punching his chest, right over the gas that was made earlier by Uri.

The sailback gasped and hissed in pain, as he immediately brought his claws at Uri's leg, and dug his claws in the flesh. This made the threehorn grunt and snort in pain as he pulled back, and both he and Swift took a moment to recover, before Swift jumped over him again.

Uri now had a split second to react. He used this chance to move his head forward, and he was able to hit him right in the gash on his chest again. Swift gasped as the force of the blow sent him up in the ground. For a moment Uri was satisfied, but his proud smile soon disappeared as he noticed that Swift was not correcting his stance. The blown in the gash had caused a pain that had stunned the sailback, and he was now not correcting his position into the air.

He was going to land on his back!

"Swift!" cried Nettle, her eyes widen in horror, and so were Littlefoot's. Terry gave a step forward, ready to do something. However, before he could, Uri did something. He ran in direction to Swift's falling form, and jumped in his direction.

The viewers thought that he was taking the chance to attack the sailback while he was still in the air, maybe to jam his horns on him. However, instead of that, Uri dematerialized his horns, and he moved over Swift, hugging him by the front with his paws enveloping his sides. And then, as they were in direction to the ground, Uri twisted his body, making both of them spin, and then, he landed on his back in the ground, Swift on top of him, laying on him belly to belly.

There was a silence as all the dinosaurs in there looked at that. Uri was on the ground, panting, as Swift was recovering, and he looked at the threehorn who was holding him, soon he was realizing what had happened. Uri looked at him in the eyes, and they both stared at each other for a few moments, before Uri opened a nervous smile, and he said "That was a close one, right?"

Swift only looked at him, and after a few seconds, he got down from Uri's chest, and he stood in the ground, in front of him, as the threehorn corrected himself and got back to his feet. There was an unnerving silence, before Swift said "Well, I gues that you won." He didn't sounded angry, and Uri was happy for that, and the sailback said "You fought very well, I liked the way you surprised me with the kick when I jumped." He said, and Uri could swear that there was the faintest smile on his face.

Seeing the sailback still smiling after what had almost happened, helped ease Uri's mood, and he said, "Nah, you are also very good." As he smiled at the sharptooth, who smiled back at him very faintly, and said "Well, I guess the first patrol is yours, then."

Terry smiled at them, and he was also happy for seeing that Swift was okay. He stepped forward, and he said to his two young apprentices "Well, that was very good, both of you."

Both dinosaurs looked at him, and the older bonecrusher continued, talking straight to the threehorn "Uri, get ready, the first patrol will start right before the Bright Circle sets and will go on until the Night Circle is in the middle of the sky. You better rest now and get ready." And he also added "And you better ask Nettle to care for these wounds, before they start infecting." And with that, the sharptooth turned around, and he left. Uri smiled at him, and he said "Right, sir!" his tone was playful, and he even made a small salute as Terry walked away, possibly to take care of his own affairs.

As he walked away, the tohers all came closer, and Nettle was the first one to arrive. "Oh, Swfit!" she sais hugging him. The shine that the sailback had on his body had already subsided, and he was just as normal as ever. She hugged him thigh, making him flinch slightly as she touched his wounds, and the horned-head said "Oh, I wa so worried when I saw you falling!"

And after a few moments, she let go, and turned to Uri, her expression was serious "And you! What were you doing? You could have killed Swift!"

"Hey, go easy, it was an accident!" Uri said as he recoiled slightly, and Swift said "I'm fine." Making Nettle looked at him "There is no need to be so nervous, is everything okay."

This seemed to make her relax, but just slightly, and soon she was talking about his wounds, and about threating them. As she did, Littlefot and the tohers approached, and Petrie asked "Why she so worried about Swift landing on his back?"

Littlefoot looked at him "Well, is because… you see…" he tried to finish, but who finished it was Swift himself, who stepped forward, and he said nonchalantly "Because it would kill me."

The rest of Littlefoot's friends gasped, and Swift continued explaining, "Do you see this?" he gestured to the "sail" on his back "This I made of pure bone, and it is directly connected to my spine. Though it is bone, it is also very fragile. If I fall over it, by the way, even if I roll on my side, I can break it. Since it is connected to my spine, breaking it also means breaking my spine. If a sailback falls over the sail, it is instant death."

Littlefoot's friends all understood in that moment why Uri rushed to prevent it from happening, and also why Nettle became so nervous at Swift almost landing on his back. If what he said was truth than, if Uri had not intervened, Swift would be dead right now. Still, they were somewhat surprised that Swift could talk about his own almost death with such neutrality, as if it was something that happens every day, or as if he truly was not scared to die.

"So, Uri saved your life." Said Chomper, and Swift shrugged and he said "Yeah, after almost killing me." He didn't sounded angry, it was only as if he was doing an statement. "Well, if I had died, I guess it would be it, right? After all, no one lives forever."

Littlefoot's friends all shared a look at the way that the sailback talked. He looked at them, and he smiled at little Chomper "Don't worry, it is not the first time that I almost get killed. I mean, when you are part of the order, and have to fight the Hollows, this is the kind of possibility that you must face." And he patted the smaller blue sharptooth in the head "It is risky, but I guess someone has to do it, ain't I right?"

He offered a kind smile, and Chomper was actually able to smile too. Littlefoot was able to chuckle slightly. He knew that Swift was not the kind who got shaken fro being near death. He was able to keep up even when things seemed to be hopeless and even when the battle seemed lost, and still keep a cool attitude. That was one of the things that many in the Valley of Leaf and Claw admired in him. He was always able to keep his cool and to think as he fought.

Suddenly, Uri came "So, I guess I'll be responsible for the first patrol." He said as he stood proudly "This means that I'll get the chance of kicking any Hollows' tails of they dare to come near Great Valley!" he said, and made a gesture with his horns, as if he was ramming them into an invisible foe. Littlefoot chuckled at him, while Neetle came, and she said "But only after I have threated your wounds."

"Yeah, yeah, right." Said the threehorn, and he turned to Swift, and he said "By the way, sorry for that."

Swift looked at him, and he shrugged "Yeah, I know you would not do that on purpose." He said to him, and he sounded sincere. Uri sighed, and he said "Still, I think we should had a better fight."

"Are you saying it was not good enough?" Swift asked, raising an eyebrow, and Uri sighed as he said "I just wish it had been a little more fair. Yah know, that thing of almost falling, it kind of ruined the fun. I wished we could have fought better for a little longer. I know that you would have put up much more fight."

Swift looked at him, and opened a faint smile "If you want, we can have a rematch some other time, and this time I assure you I won't go easy."

Uri looked at him, with a sly smile "Is that a challenge?"

"If you are willing to accept." Sai Swift, and they both looked at each other with smirks, and they both nodded, as if they were making a silent pact. While this all the others looked amazed that these both were still able to act like that, so calm and so friendly after what almost happened. Nettle rolled her eyes as she shook her head. These two were hopeless. Littlefoot, on the other hand, could only chuckle at his two friends, as he knew that they both had their own way of dealing frustration and problems.

With that said, Uri turned to the adults, who were only watching, and he said "Okay folks, we will start the patrol in a few hours form now, I suggest you to eat and to sleep now. We might stay up for the good amount of the night, and I'm going to need you with full force and at full attention!" His tone was not bossy, but he seemed to be almost excited to be at leadership "So, I suggest you all to take a good rest now, and meet me near that big rock over the bent tree before the Bright Circle sets! Lets go!"

While this, Mr. Threehorn was watching from distance, now seeing the threehorn give commands to the group that, by what it seemed, he would be leading. That boy had something on him, and that was for sure. Topps was, he dared to say, impressed (?) by this threehorn's spirit and ability.

"This might be interesting." The old bull said to himself as he turned around and started to leave. Thinking that he might had to keep an watchful eye for that threehorn.

* * *

_If you don't have any fight in you, you might as well be dead._

**_Scott Caan_ **

 

 

 


	8. The Coming of the Ground Shaker Hollows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the training, Uri is ready to lead the fist patrol. However, the nigh is about to take an unexpected turn, as the enemy shows just its real power...

After that event, the day passed rather without interesting incidents in Great Valley. However, this did not stopped the news about the small brawl the sailback and threehorn had in the middle of the day to spread around like fire into a dry vegetation.

Everybody talked about what the few ones in there had witnessed, about how much their "training" could get rough, and how powerful the magic of the members of the Order actually was. Of course, this was just an excuse to the start of the gossips around the Valley. In a while, the events that had transpired in there were somehow enlarged, in a way that some said that the threehorn had ripped out the sailback's lower jaw, right after the later having ripped out one of the legs of the former.

Sure, this was quickly dismissed by Littlefoot and Terry, as well as by the other adults that were in there and watched the fight. Even Uri himself dismissed it, along with Swift. Sure, the dinosaurs who heard or said these things seemed to be genuinely surprised to see them well and in one piece, even if with bruises and gashes in their bodies. Well, most of them, anyway.

Littlefoot spent the day still playing a little with his friends, while Uri followed Terry's advice and rested to get ready to lead the first patrol at night. Some even questioned the big bonecrusher over it, as he said that he would lead the patrol himself. The sharptooth only shrugged and said that he decided that his pupils were ready for this kind of thing. Of course, due to his size, and also his razor sharp teeth, no one really questioned him to much about it or complained over his decision.

Swift rest a little to recover from the wounds he had suffered. Both he and Uri had been treated by Nettle, who prepared her own mix of herbs and a little of her poison and spread it over their wounds. She claimed that it was going to help the wounds close faster, just like it was doing with Littlefoot. Still, some were really disgusted by seeing her spit that thing and mix with the mush she was doing and them spreading over their wounds. Many of them still thought it was somehow wrong. However, neither of the members of the Order gave any sigh of discomfort or even of slightly disgust. It seemed that Nettle was already famous back in their order due to what she did with her poison, and she had some kind of reputation as a great healer, and this granted that the others trusted her enough for not be bothered by her ways.

Still, it seemed that her "medicine" still stung somehow, as Uri hissed and squirmed a little as it was spread over the gashes that Swift had opened in his body with his claws. Swift, however, simply stood there in silence as the horned-head spread the medicine over his wounds, which fumed and hissed. However, he didn't made a single sound or even flinched. Instead, he only closed his eyes and took deep and slow breaths, almost as if he was trying to focus the pain out of his body.

"Is this some of his magic?" asked Chomper to Littlefoot, and the longneck only said that it was something that Swift learned with some other teachers of the Order, back in their Valley. It was a way of calming down and focusing that helped to control the pain. It seemed that with this, you could be able to handle several kinds of pain for a very long time. He also said that many of the Order were taught it, and the longneck himself was being taught about this kind of focusing. However, he was still not sure if he was getting it right, but there was no magic in it, just focus and willpower and, by what everyone was seeing, Swift had a lot of it in him.

They all could not help but get really admired by the way that the sailback took everything with such calm and assertiveness, and the way he kept his cool in such situations. Chomper, particularly, admired the way he kept his cool and was able to think calmly and to be so amazing. That and the fact that Swift was, just like Terry, a sharptooth that could be friends with Leaf eaters. Another proof that his dream was possible, and that made him very happy.

Even though many would not describe Swift exactly as "friendly", due to the way he acted with the others around him. It seemed that the only ones who he showed some kind of friendliness with were Littlefoot and the other dinosaurs of the order, and Chomper, for some unknown reason. It seemed that he had some short of instant connection with the younger blue sharptooth in the moment they met. Anyway, it seemed that Chomper had really got himself a new friend.

And this made Littlefoot very happy, in turn, seeing that his old friends of Great Valley and his new friends of the Order of Leaf and Claw were somehow getting along. It made him feel satisfied that they were getting to know each other and actually liking each other. Uri and Nettle were already getting into acquaintances with his friends. He already expected it form Nettle, since she was friendly to almost anyone. Though he knew that Swift was going to take sometime before ha actually was going to be as nice to the rest of his friends as he was with Chomper, he knew that the sailback was going to get used to them. And Terry had already showed that he could, at least, get along with his grandfather.

Maybe it was a good sigh, was the thought on the young longneck's mind. Maybe if they get acquaintance enough with everyone they could soon tell them the truth. The _whole_ truth. About the true reason of the attacks of the Hollows, and the true responsible for all of that, and his real intentions.

It pained him to have to hide things from his friends. He really wished he would just tell him the truth, even with all the warnings the others had gave you about this, and that the consequences could be large. Of course, Littlefoot had not to tell a single lie, even because he didn't had to talk at all, since Terry himself took charge of the explanations. Still, he had to keep quiet and it was almost as if he was lying to people by hiding things, and Littlefoot didn't liked that. Especially to his family. Especially to his friends…

Earlier that day, he really felt like he should tell his friends the truth. He really was going to. He would just tell them the truth about all of that. The true reason behind it all, and just end this riddle at once and put all in the open. Even with all the warnings and all the consequences. He just wished to be honest with his loved ones.

And this thought was still plaguing him as he played with his friends, and as he was eating his dinner. And this, of course, didn't go unnoticed by his Grandpa and Grandma, as they watched Littlefoot eat.

"Not hungry, little one?" asked Grandma to him, making Littlefoot look at her, and he said in answer "Well… I have a lot to think about in the moment." It was not a lie, yet, Littlefoot was diverging from giving a direct answer. He was in that same moment fighting the urge to simply tell them all the truth.

If they even noticed that the longneck was really nervous, they might have ignored. Instead, they shared a look and they nodded at each other. "Littlefoot." Said Grandpa, making the young longneck look up at him, and he said, "Your grandma and I have a serious talk to have with you."

His tone and the expression on his face was serious enough to make Littlefoot worry.

* * *

"Okay now! I hope everybody in here is ready!" said Uri as he stood in place, making a daring pose in front of the dinosaurs of the group which he was leading into the first patrol. He probably wanted to look epic and daring, of course, but instead, it made the dinosaurs simply look at him as he looked somewhat over-dramatic. Actually, he looked even a little silly.

"Yeah, I guess so?" said one of them, and Uri immediately said, "Come on guys! You need to be sure of what you want to do! In this kind of thing having a doubt can mean that you should be doing something else!"

The dinosaurs shared a look, and another of them asked "So, should we go back to our homes and forget it?"

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't heard that!" Uri said aloud, sounding a bit of outraged, but he remained perfectly composed as he said that, as a great leader about to lead his herd into a life-or-death mission. "Now, I don't feel good to demand such a thing from dinosaurs who were not trained to something like that!" he said as he started circling in front of them, as if he was a general trying to raise the mood of his troops. "But I must ask of you to be brave and to be ready to risk your lives and a few missing limbs in order to protect your home and all the people that are important to you!"

Of course, the threehorn was saying the truth, but he was still talking as if it was part of an epic story, and he looked a bit over-dramatic still. However, Uri seemed not to notice the dinosaurs looking at him and sharing looks among themselves, as if they were trying to figure out what was up with him. Or he noticed and decided to ignore. The point was that he continued. "Yes! For the following days and maybe weeks, you will be risking your very own lives in order to protect this Valley and all you love in it, including all your friends, herds and families!"

Uri made a complete spin in order to stand in front of them and look straight at them as he proceeded with the next parts. "The Hollows some of you might have saw or heard about earlier today were, I'm _really_ sorry I have to say that, a little weaker than regular."

Their eyes widened when they heard it. Was the threehorn serious?

"Yes, indeed, by what Littlefoot and Terry told me, they were slightly weaker than it was normal for their kind!" Uri continued, seeming not to notice the expressions of worry that were starting to come into the faces of the dinosaurs that he would be leading. "And that even considering that their variation is not one of the most powerful!"

"Wait!" said one of them, a clubtail "Are you saying that we might encounter more powerful versions of these things?"

"Yes!" Uri said nonchalantly "More powerful! Bigger! Stronger! Faster! And all with the same lust for fresh and warm blood recently taken from a living being!"

Now the young dinosaurs were starting to look scared. However, Uri once again seemed to have failed to notice that, as he simply continued. "I'll not lie! If we come across some of these Hollows tonight, there are actual chances of some of you not coming back home!"

"By the morning, it is possible that some of you are nothing more than corpses! Rotting and attracting buzzers in the places you fell! Your mangled forms scavenged by some lost sharptooth or some other animal who might want to make a feast out of your remains! Your limbs taken off your body by the Hollows and spread all around you! Your faces into constant expressions of horror and pain for all to see! Your bones left behind for some meat eater to come and munch into them and to be eaten away by the time itself!"

Uri clearly wanted to make an inspiring speech, but he failed to noticed that it was having the opposite effect. Instead of raising the moral of the ones he was supposed to be leading, it seemed to be making them be more and more afraid. Actually, some of them were starting to back away slowly, as if they were ready to turn around and run back to the safety of their nests. Nonetheless, Uri failed to notice, and he only continued his speech.

"However, we must remember that we do that for a far greater cause than ourselves, and so, we must face the certain death and the danger of pain and suffering beyond imagination for our greater goal!" He said, still in his dramatic pose. "Even if we perish, our names will be remembered by our heroic sacrifice, and they might tell stories about us years after our horrid deaths! So, we will fight now, for our bravery, for our homes! For our future! And for our families! Who is with me?" He finished and looked at them, expecting them to scream "Hooray" raising their heads and hands up in the air.

However, he saw that they were looking nervously at him, some of them actually seemed to be starting to have doubts. One of them, a clubtail, was saying. "Actually…"

But Uri didn't let him finish, as he simply said, "Alright them!" and he turned his back at them as he led the way "Who is not afraid to die, after me!" he said as he marched forward, like a soldier in direction to the enemy army. The dinosaurs stood in place as they shared a look among themselves.

Uri walked back at them, and he said, "Lets march!" and he moved forward, but the dinosaurs were still hesitating. He came back another time, and he said, "Come on guys! Time waits for no one!" He sounded as if he did not understood why everybody was taking so long.

The dinosaurs shared a look among themselves, and they finally started to slowly, one by one, go after Uri. Still, they all stood close to each other, and somewhat close to the threehorn, as they hoped that he was going to protect them if things got too ugly.

Uri seemed to still be oblivious to their nervousness, or simply be ignoring it as if it was not important. He had his horned snout held high in the air as if he was a great leader guiding his herd in direction to the promised land. There was a big and proud smile plastered in his face, and he walked proudly ahead as the others almost climbed over each other to get near him, as if this would give them the max possible of protection.

Uri was acting all hardcore and as if they could face off Hollows right tonight. But, deep inside, he knew that it was not truth. Hollows rarely appeared in a sequence. People who controlled them usually didn't insisted that much, and many of them were actually cowards, who relied on the Hollows to do all the work.

Of course, this did not applied to the one who sent the Hollows in there this morning… Nevertheless, Uri was not fearing for the ones who were with him, for he knew that they would most likely end their shift tonight without meeting any Hollows or even shadow of them. Sure, some of them could imagine see things and have a little scare, but Uri was pretty, and why not say, completely sure that they were not going to get into fights tonight. There was no danger and they were safe.

However, it was not the first time that Uri was wrong about something.

As soon as they passed by the entrance, the Amulet around Uri's left front ankle started to shine and to pulse somehow. "Hum?" Uri said as he looked at it, and after a moment, his eyes widened. "Oh, no!" He said as he looked around, and soon, the dinosaurs noticed his sudden stop and nervousness, and, in turn, they became nervous too.

Uri finally looked over, his eyes widening when he saw it. A mass of darkness seemed to be forming out of the ground, and bubbling as it seemed to raise and grow into a small lump of something that looked like black bubbling goo.

The others dinosaurs also looked at it, and they all backed away as they gasped, hiding behind Uri as the Threehorn looked at it. Therefore, the mass started taking a shape as it kept growing. It was not like the fast biter-like Hollows from earlier, it was bigger, and it was more definitely more muscled as it was taking the shape.

After almost one minute, it was formed. It was big and strong. It had the overall shaped of a bonecrusher sharptooth, but with the strong head and long muzzle of a longsnout bellydragger. It had long and strong legs made for stomp, but it also had long arms, ending in long and mean-looking claws. It had also two long and curved horns on it's head, which seemed to be very good for ramming and throwing the enemies back. It also had spikes on its back, going all the way up to it's tail, what ended in some short of "tailblade", which had the shape of what would, nowadays, known as an axe. It's eyes, however, were as could and soulless as the ones of the Hollows of earlier.

It looked at Uri and at the other dinosaurs, and it snarled as it gave a step forward. Everybody, save Uri, yelped and took a step back. The threehorn, however, recovered, and he adopted a fighting pose, the amulet on his leg glowing softly as his horns also glowed softly, as if they were charging up energy.

As he did, other masses of darkness started to form into the ground, and they all took shape, and formed more of the same creature. They all hissed and growled and snorted at each other, before they turned all their attention to the group leaded by the threehorn.

They stared at them for a long moment, and they all snarled and snorted as they started walking slowly in their direction, drooling some black substance form their mouths as if they were foaming.

The other dinosaurs stood behind Uri, as the threehorn said, "I really did not expected that." In a low voice, so no other dinosaurs would hear him. But son after, he said, "Well, it seems that we will fight something today! Everybody get ready, and stay close to me!"

He said as he adopted position, and he said aloud, " _ **Piercing Light**_ " And I immediately, his horns were enveloped by light and grew. The Hollows stared back at him, hissing angrily as they were getting ready for attacking. Uri let out a breath as he scratched the ground, getting ready to charge.

"You want a piece of me?" He asked the Hollow defiantly as he looked at it, and he finished by saying "Then I'm going at you!" And with that said, he charged, crying out.

In that same moment, the first Hollow in line let out an earth-shaking roar as he also charged. Its teeth were bared and its claws outstretched, and ready to kill. Many would have backed away, but Uri continued running in its direction, seeming not to care if he was going to get mauled, or maybe that he had a plan and was sure that he could win. Or maybe he would be just insane or suicidal and was charging straight at his death.

Anyway, there was just one thought into his mind as he charged in direction to that beast that was right in front of him.

_"I **really** did not planned something like that."_

* * *

Littlefoot looked up at his grandparents, who looked down at him, and by the expression in their faces, it seemed that the talk they wanted to have was really serious. Littlefoot could not avoid feel somehow uncomfortable for having this attention at him. He swallowed the lump of his throat as he wondered if the moment to come the truth to his grandparents had already came.

He only looked up, as he managed to say "S-sure. What is it?"

Grandpa looked down at him, and he sighed, "Littlefoot. It seems that you have assumed great responsibilities entering into this… order."

Littlefoot felt a sting of guilty, as he could see some short of genuine worry in his grandfather's eyes, and he could see the same in the eyes of Grandma, before he continued, "And, for what we saw today, it seems that being part of it is really something very dangerous."

Littlefoot let out a sigh, as he had the feeling he already knew where this talk was going. "I can't abandon the Order." He said ahead "I'm part of it now and I have duties as so. They are my friends now too, and they need my help. As well as many other people out there who suffer because of the Hollows and the ones who control them." He looked down to the ground, as he finished "I can't leave them now."

Grandpa looked down at his grandson, and he said, "I see. I really did not expected you to."

Littlefoot looked up at him, surprised. The elderly longneck sighed, and he said, "Littlefoot, Grandma and I will not be here forever to tell you what you should or should not do." These words made Littlefoot feel really uncomfortable for some reason. "We can't stay always telling you what to do. After all, you will eventually come to an age in which no one else will know what is better for you but yourself."

The elderly male let out a heavy sigh, as he said, "And it seems that this time is arriving quite faster than we expected."

"We don't want you to abandon the ones who need you." Said Grandma, as soon as her husband finished, "We know that you take this responsibility very seriously, and we are both admired at it. However, you must understand that you are the most important thing in the world to us, so it is natural for us to worry about you."

Littlefoot looked her in the eyes, and he could see that both her and Grandpa really meant every word they were saying to him. "We are worried for your safety." Grandma continued, "And, even after we had seen with our own eyes that you _can_ take care of yourself and of others, you still can be in danger when doing these things for the Order, and we are worried."

"We will not try to convince you to abandon it, nor to simply turn your back if you see that someone needs you." Grandpa said, "But you must understand that we also need you. As well as your friends. We all were very worried and very sad when you vanished."

There was a few moments of silence, and Grandpa admitted "For a moment, we thought we had lost you." He sounded really sad when he said that, and this made a new wave of guilty to spread over Littlefoot's chest.

Grandpa and Grandma both looked at their grandson, as the elderly male continued, "Littlefoot, we don't want to pass by this again. We want to know that you are safe. That is why we are talking to you. We want you to be very careful when you do these kinds of things. We know you are being taught how to fight, and that you have your friends from the Order to protect you, and your magic. Still, we need you to promise us that you will be careful." He looked at his grandson, and so did Grandma, as she said, "Littlefoot, please, promise us you will take care of yourself and be careful, and that, no matter what happens, you will always come back to the ones who care about you."

Littlefoot looked up at them. They were worried about him, and they only didn't wanted to lose him. Once again, he felt guilty as he felt like somehow he was causing distress and worry to them. Their request seemed simply, but Littlefoot knew that keeping it was not going to be. The work of the Order was dangerous by its own nature, and he had actually risked his life more times than his grandparents or friends possibly imagined.

Still, he thought about what they had just said.

Come back to the ones who cared about you…

Yes.

He always did that. And he would always want to do. No matter what kind of hardship or problem he was facing in any of his adventures he had till now. He always found a way to go back home. To return to his home and to go back to his grandparents. To reunite with the people who were important to him and who truly cared about him. He always did it, and he would always want to.

That was why, even knowing that keeping himself safe would be difficult, even knowing that he would risk his life many more times in the future as a member of the Order, even with the current danger that threatened him and all he loved, and even with the shadow of doubt obscuring his vision of what was ahead of him and all the others, Littlefoot had absolutely no doubt in what to say as an answer.

"I promise." Littlefoot said, and he really meant it "I promise that, even with all the dangers I have to face, I'll always come back. I'll always return to the ones I love.". Grandpa and Grandma looked down at him for a while, before both opened smiles, and they neared and nuzzled him.

"We know you will, Littlefoot." Said Grandma as she nuzzled her grandson "You always does."

"You always keeps your promises." Grandpa said, as they broke apart, "We have no reason to think you would lie to us." He said with a smile. He intended it to be an assuring that his grandparents were more tranquil now, and that they trusted his word completely.

However, by hearing this, it seemed like Littlefoot received a ton of rocks right over his back. The young longneck looked at the ground again, and he seemed to be very worried, and almost looked… guilty?

Grandma and Grandpa shared a look, and Grandma asked her grandson "Littlefoot?"

The young longneck looked in the eyes of his concerned grandmother, as she asked him "There is something wrong?"

Littlefoot blinked at his grandparents. A thousand thoughts flew over his head all at the same time. They trusted him. They were probably the most open-minded dinosaurs in the Valley. They always thought before taking any decision. They trusted in his judgement.

Maybe…

Maybe he could tell them…

Only to them.

Littlefoot was just about to open his mouth to say something, when a loud sound echoed through the Valley. It was a loud, shrieking and blood-curling roar that seemed not to be produced by anything natural.

The family of longnecks jumped slightly as their heads turned to the direction where the roar had come from. Their eyes widened as they got scared by this strange roar, that was nothing like they had ever heard before.

However, Littlefoot was the most scared of all, for he had already heard this sound, and he knew perfectly what it was. "Oh, no!" The young longneck cried out, as he felt like all of his worst fears had just came true. "Oh, please, spirits, not that!" The young longneck said, getting up, and looking at the direction. It was coming from one of the entrances of the Great Valley. And it was exactly the entrance that Uri would be patrolling with the group he was leading.

In this moment, a lot of worries came in his mind, both for Uri and for the group he was leading. And it was especially because of the creature who the roar belonged. If he was not mistaken, then it was… Oh, man, they were not ready for this kind of thing! They knew that there was the possibility, but they did not expected that so soon! He was not kidding, he was already throwing what he had of worse!

This was definitely not good!

Littlefoot looked back at his grandparents, and he said, "They need help!" And he barely had to time explain, and he turned his attention back the place where the roars were coming from, and he started running in its direction.

"Littlefoot!" Grandpa called as he and his wife both got up and started walking after Littlefoot. The young longneck was already some distance ahead as he ran in direction to the place where he knew that his help was needed. He knew that he should be resting and recovering, but he had to help Uri now.

He passed by some other dinosaurs, all of them had been or surprised or woke up by the sudden roar, and many of them now thinking it was an attack to the Great Valley, and running in the opposite direction. Littlefoot, however, was moving in the opposite direction, running in direction to the roar. Littlefoot knew that he might not have very much time.

He focused, and his amulet started glowing slightly, and Littlefoot said, "Terry, Swift, Nettle! Uri is in trouble! If you didn't heard, the roar come from the place I'm going now! Use the amulets to find us, please, quick!" Littlefoot said, as if he was talking to them and they were right by his side, and soon after that, his amulet kept glowing, and he run faster in direction to the place as he heard another blood-curling roar, this one seemed to be louder than the last.

As he ran in direction to the place he was hearing the roars, Littlefoot could not help but pray to all the spirits who were hearing him that Uri would be able to hold his ground against them for long enough.

* * *

Uri cried out as he pushed the Hollow back, making it stumble back. The big creature shook its big and heavy head, and as it did, Uri took this chance to charge again, and he rammed his horns made of light right in the creature's belly.

The creature cried out and curled over itself, hissing dangerously as its teeth were dangerously close to Uri's face. Its nasty breath washing over him like a foul wind, and some droplets of the nasty saliva from its mouth dripped over him, along with the black blood that flowed from the recently opened wound, which leaked down his horns of light.

Uri fought back the urge to thrown up, as the mix of factors was proving to be enough to make his stomach make spins inside his guts, and seemingly tangle with the rest. The threehorn limited himself to snort and growl loudly, as he pushed his horns deeper into the recently opened wound, and he cried out as his horns glowed brighter.

After a second, there was an explosion of pure light, ad after a few seconds, it was over, and it was revealed that the upper part of the Hollow had been completely exploded.

The lower half stood there, and shortly it dematerialized into black ash, which quickly vanished in the air. Uri let out a huge breath as he took deep breaths, and he almost threw up again as he felt as if he had swallowed the smell that covered him.

It was Hollow's breath mixed with its saliva and blood, and it was simply and totally awful! Uri was going to need to bath in the river for at least ten days to get rid of this smell! However, his thoughts were soon diverged as he heard another roar, and he saw the other creatures snarling and snapping their jaws at him.

Uri groaned, as he looked over these things. They were really pissing him off! Now he was really mad!

Uri raised his head to the sky, and let out a powerful cry, as he raised his frontlegs from the ground, only to slam them back, as he cried out " ** _Dark Spikes!_** " As he did it, a shadow formed under his paws, and it spread forward. It was so dark that it stood in sight, even among the darkness that was coming from the incoming night. It moved in a path under two of the Hollows, and then, immediately, it raised itself upward, as if it was a jumping water stream.

It took the shape of spikes, like the thorns from a bush, or more like stone teeth. They immediately pierced the Hollows, passing by their chests, and bellies, and their legs, completely going through them, and making it gush their black blood in the air as they went all the way through, their tips standing clearly in pure blackness against the Bright Fall.

The Hollows cried out as they were pierced, and they struggled a little, soon before they both dissolved into black dust, falling to them ground. As it happened, the others let out primal cries, as they all charged at Uri at the same time.

The Threehorn didn't even had time to react as these things gave booming stomps in the ground, making it shake slightly, as they ran in direction to the threehorn, their claws and teeth bared and ready for the kill. The first one in line would have soon reached Uri and gave him a fatal blown before he could react.

However, it was hit in the eye by a rock. It got surprised, ad stumbled backward, making the ones who were coming right after it slam into it, and soon, all of them were falling one over the other.

Uri blinked, and he looked over his shoulder, to see the dinosaurs who he was leading, and who were, surprisingly, still in there. It was one tubehead who had just threw a rock into the head of one of these creatures, resulting into the chain reaction that had just happened.

The tubehead himself was surprised that a single rock that he had threw had such an effect, and he just stood there, speechless. Uri could only smile to himself, and he said to the tubehead "Well done!"

This seemed to snap the tubehead out of his stupor, and he looked over and he saw "Look out!" as he pointed to something ahead of Uri.

The threehorn immediately turned his head, and he saw that one of the Hollows had already got up, and it was snarling at him as it bared its claws, and it seemed ready to pounce at him. Uri snarled back, and his horns started glowing again, as if he was going to use his **_Light Horns_** again, however, this time, the threehorn cried out. " ** _Light Thorns!_** "

And as he said that, immediately, his horns started to shot forward spikes made of light, that seemed to be in the same exact shape of his own horns, and they were directed to the Hollows as if they were arrows. The Hollow in line who was charging at Uri was immediately hit in the face and chest by five of these thorns of light, and it cried out as it stumbled back, caught off guard, it was both wounded by the spikes, and immediately dazed by its light and power.

It roared as it stopped, and it was immediately assaulted by many other of these missiles of light right in its neck and chest, wounds which leaked a lot of black blood, and then creature stumbled back, shaking its body, trying to get rid of the dizziness that came over it, brought by the sudden burst of the light on its face.

Uri looked at it, and he let out a huge breath. He groaned at himself. His **_Light Thorns_** were a new move he had been training. He was quite frustrated for don't having long-range attacks, and he was trying to make it up with this technique. It was still in developed, though, for it ate away much of his energy, and it also was not sure to have effect. As it was show by the Hollow, who, though having received a lot of these spikes in its body, had not been destroyed yet.

" _I need to train more this move._ " Uri thought to himself as he made a little effort to remain standing as he felt like a good amount of his magic power had been drained away by this failed attack. While this, the Hollow cried to the heavens in a mighty roar, as it was ready to pounce at Uri again.

The threehorn got in position, ready for the next blow of the Hollow. However, something passed by him, and it stood in front of the Hollow, making it look down at it.

"You don't give a step closer!" cried out the clubtail, as he made a spin and swung its clubbed tail, hitting the creature right in the chest. By doing so, he did hit two of the horns, which were very close to each other, making them sink deeper into the Hollow 's body.

The great creature cried out as the spikes of light sunk, piercing its evil flesh of darkness with its pure and powerful light. The Hollow stumbled over, shaking its body, it's claws scratching and rending its own flesh, as if it was trying to take out a spike from its body. The feeling of light against a creature of darkness felt horrible, especially magic light, which was a total and complete aversion, as it destroyed the very own darkness and negativity that made the creatures body.

It did not felt pain, by the word itself, it only felt extremely bothered by the presence of that in its body that violated its very being and nature. It wanted it out, and it was going to rip itself open if there was the need.

The Hollow cried out as it tried to get the shards of light out of its body, and the clubtail stared at it, surprised that his own attack seemed to have caused that. Uri, on the other hand, could only cheer.

"Now, that is what I'm talking about!" he cried out, with a victorious smirk in his face as he looked the effect that the clubtail's attack, summed with his own powers, had caused to the Hollow. Now that was a true teamwork in a fight! Sure, it was unintentional, at the best, still it was totally **awesome**!

"Well done! I assume from here!" Uri said, as he gestured with his head for the clubtail to get out of the way. The dinosaur looked at him, and at the Hollow, who was still trying to open itself to get the shards of light out, and at the other Hollows, who snarled right behind that one.

The clubtail didn't needed a better encouragement to get out of the way and run back, whishing a quickly "good luck" to Uri as he dashed past him. Uri only smiled, and he thought: "Time to take things seriously" And he took a deep breath, and he cried out. " ** _Cross Armor!_** "

Immediately, two shapes formed on the tip of his two bigger horns. One horn had what seemed to be a very small star, focused on the tip, and shining brightly. The other horn, had what seemed to be a cloud of pure blackness, which seemed to take the light out of the ambient, and stood out as darker than the normal dark.

Immediately, Uri waved his horns, and made both the light and the blackness spread around him as if they were smoke, and soon, he was surrounded by both light and dark. Soon after, they started to take place in certain areas of his body, with the bright and the shadow focusing in certain areas of him, and making themselves compressed against his form, almost as if they were some kind of layer over his own skin.

In a while, Uri opened his eyes, and he was now wearing an armor that seemed to be made both of light and darkness. There was bright parts on his four legs and ont his underbelly and in the lower part of his muzzle, and mainly in his horns, and there was dark of the purest black on his back, on the upper par of his jaw and face, on his neck crest and on his tail.

The threehorn seemed a very impressive vision, as it was noticed by the looks in the dinosaurs' faces, all amazed by what they were seeing. The Hollows, however, didn't seemed all too impressed, as they only snarled loudly, and they started to go in his direction.

Under normal circumstances, Uri would try to use this chance to show himself off, by using his amazing armor of light and darkness to impress others. After all, who didn't loved a little of this kind of attention?

But this was a serious fight, and Uri had no time to fool around, there was too much at stake in there and the current moment, and he was not going to falter now and let everyone down.

Uri stared back at the Hollows as he snarled loudly, and he charged forward. He cried out as he rammed into two of them, and send they both aside with amazing strength, pushing them back and out of his way. Soon after, Uri passed with amazing speed by the next Hollow, and he made a complete circle around it. Right as he stopped in front of it, and used the same tactic he had used with Swift earlier in that same day: he planted his front legs into the ground, and he rammed his hindlegs into the creature in front of him, throwing it backwards.

The Hollow was shoved back and landed right against the other one, who had almost completely teared its own chest open trying to get the horns of light out of its body, and they both cried out. The creature suffered a lot of damage, both from the horns and also from the wounds it made on itself trying to take them out. As the other one fell over it, it finally took too much. As both of them stumbled, the one in the back dissolved into black dust, vanishing in the air.

Uri looked at the Hollow that was left, whom struggled to get back up from the ground, seeming to be shaken from the attack of the threehorn. Uri was busy looking at it, and he didn't noticed that the other three Hollows now were circling him, until they all opened their jaws to dug their teeth on him

"Look out!" cried out a tube head in horror, but it seemed that it was already too late. IN that same moment, all the Hollows dove their heads down, and they all clamped their jaws around Uri's body.

The dinosaurs all gasped in horror, as they expected the threehorn to cry out in pure agony, and even expected blood to gush from his body. They even expected to hear the sound of his bones cracking under the powerful assault of these merciless jaws, biting down at him, making the sharp teeth of the creatures pierce his scaled high and digging deep into his flesh.

However, none of that ever came. Instead, the Hollows only snarled and groaned as they kept forcing their jaws over the body of the threehorn. However, it seemed that they were not able to penetrate the layer of both darkness and light, as they only kept trying to dig their teeth in the leaf eater's flesh, but had absolutely no result.

Uri looked over his shoulder and he smirked, as he immediately raised his lower half, kicking hard with his legs, making all the Hollow who were trying to bite on him be pushed back. Uri used this chance to spin around, and he swung his head, opening gashed in the bodies of the Hollow with his teeth. The gashes were small, and leaked a little blood, still, it seemed to be enough to make the Hollows stumble back and grunt, as they seemed to get angrier at the threehorn for attacking and damaging their bodies.

Uri only smirked coyly, that was when he heard the other Hollow on his back charging at him as it roared. Uri smiled to himself as he finally decided to take move, and use his intelligence to take advantage. He ran straight over the Hollow right in front of him and, fast as a lightning, he moved his body, skating his body as he passed right under its legs, getting out by the back of the Hollow.

The Hollow looked between its legs, and it was about to turn around to try to get Uri, when the other Hollow, the one who was running after Uri, in the first place, crashed into the other, making both of them stumble over each other as Uri escaped of being trampled. As Uri recovered, the Hollows were crashing in his direction, and he now was facing them as they came in his direction.

Uri parred them, making them go in a halt by using his horns and head, but not before he was forced to reel back a little as he firmed his legs to prevent himself from being pushed back even more. Uri felt some horn leaking form the wounds he opened with his horns, and he smiled as he moved his head, and he pushed the Hollows back, throwing both of them forward, making them crash down against each other at some distance from himself.

"And he throws them away from sight!" Uri said to himself "And the crowd go delirious!" And he made a victory pose, but he didn't 't had time to enjoy, because immediately, he was hit in the side by a strong clawed hand in a swipe. He was not harmed by it, but the sheer force of the swipe sent him flaying back several feet away.

Uri landed far, almost in front of the group of dinosaurs that he was supposed to be leading, and they all took a step back as they saw the threehorn crash in the ground in front of them. They looked at him for a while, and the threehorn immediately got up in a single jump, and shook his head, trying of shake off the dizziness from being threw away like that.

He looked at the dinosaurs, who looked at him wide-mouthed, as their muzzles hang opened sas they looked at him, wondering just how he was still alive. Uri simply looked at them as he said, "Whatsup?" with a nod of his head. Soon after, another set of roars called his attention back, and he looked over his back, to see all the Hollows now snarling at him and his group, and they all seemed like they were thirsty for warm blood, as they all looked at him with absolute hate in their black, soulless eyes. One of them had been the one that had hit Uri and sent him flying with the claw. Uri could not tell which one, but he knew that it had made him really angry. Uri only took a moment to think that it didn't mattered, after all, he disliked Hollows for they served to evil dinosaurs, and it was enough reason to hate them. Uri knew he was going to set thigns with all of them.

And the Hollows also seemed to want revenge for having being attacked. Uri knew that they were most likely mindless, knowing nothing more than absolute hate and the lust for destruction above all things, including thoughts of personal revenge. Yet, anyone who looked at the way they were looking at Uri would swear that the Hollows were aiming right at him for their next move, in an act of vengeance, including the dinosaurs who were standing next to Uri. So much that a few of them were already starting to open some distance from Uri, as if that would avoid them from being in the middle of the onslaught of the Hollows, and save their lives from their wrath.

Uri, however, little minded to them, and he only kept his eyes into the Hollows, as he got back into fighting position, and got ready to another blown as he scratched the ground and lowered his head to the ground level, as he said to them fearlessly "Bring it on."

The Hollows, as if having understood perfectly what he just said, roared together as they all started running in his direction. The dinosaurs behind him all gasped and recoiled, while Uri himself stood with his feet planted firmly in the ground, ready to receive the charge.

Man, he knew he was in trouble. He knew that he would not be able to handle them for too long, even with his **_Cross Armor_**. He could only keep it for a certain amount of time before his magic energy would deeply and he would be tired. And he doubted that he could end this quickly with all of them charging at him at the same time.

Uri knew that he was in trouble, and not only him, but also the dinosaurs that were following him. He knew that, if he fell, than these poor dinosaurs would have no chance against these things. They would be shredded to pieces and chewed up and spat back, and then, the Hollows would go searching for new victims for their rage. They were going in Great Valley and their Master was going to surely get exactly what he wanted. That was bad on its own, not to mention all the potential deaths of innocent dinosaurs that would happen in the process.

Uri was haunted by all these thoughts, still, he knew that, if he gave up now, he would very much make their job all the easier. That was why he had to keep fighting, even if the odds were totally against him. He could never give up. He was going to stand his ground and never back down, no matter what happened! If he had to die, he was going to die fighting! He was not going to simply lower his head and accept what was coming to him! He was going to keep his head raised up and his horns ready for battel and he was going to fight till the end!

He was not going to let that cruel and arrogant dinosaur threaten and kill innocents only to get what he wanted. He was going to stop that guy. He was going to destroy his Hollows and then he was going after him and stop him from hurting anyone. He had to do it! He had promised to _him_.

He could not go back on his word!

Taking a few deep breaths, Uri firmed his feet in the ground the best he could as the Hollows all roared and ran in his direction. Their claws outstretched to reach him, and their jaws open and dripping foul saliva as they were ready to clamp them down into his body until his armor would crack and crunch him inside of it.

And all Uri could do was stand there, and get ready to receive the impact that was coming to him.

But it never truly arrived.

" ** _Light Roar!_** " A voice cried out, and before Uri could react, a stream of pure light passed by his side, and went straight to one of the Hollows. It hit its arm, and exploded, making the owner of the arm cry out as it stumbled back, and stumble back, making all Hollows stop in their tracks.

The arm of the Hollow had been completely blew off, and it roared in anger as it looked at the place where its arm had once been. Uri looked stunned, and he looked behind him, to see a small longneck running in his direction.

Littlefoot came closer, and he called out, "Uri! Are you okay?"

The threehorn looked at the small longneck, and he said, "I've been better. But I'm fine." He offered a smile at the longneck, who kept running in his direction. Right behind him, came his grandpa and Grandma, both looking worried, and even more when they saw the big creatures that were attacking.

Littlefoot ran by Uri's side, and he said, "He is already sending the Ground Shakers!" looking over the strange Hollows, which looked at them with positive and pure murder in their eyes.

"He must be really interested to send them right in the first night." Uri said, "I think he might be desperate?" He finished with a smirk, but Littlefoot was not smiling, instead, he only looked at the Hollows, who soon were recovering, and roaring at them as they seemed ready to charge at them again.

However, a ball of pure white fire hit one of them right in the face, coming from above, exploding in its face and making it stumble back. The dinosaurs around gasped, and they looked up, to see Swift.

The sailback was flying!

The white sharptooth was being propelled in the air by two jets of pure white fire that came out of his feet, as he looked down. His body had some bandages made out of leaves, to cover the wounds that were opened in the earlier "training" with Uri. However, they didn't seemed to prevent the young sharptooth of having a way of fighting, as he was right there.

And he was not alone.

Right by his side, was Terry, the big bonecrusher sharptooth was also flying, using two long flyer's wings that sprouted from his small arms, and flapping them as he flew. In his head, holding tight to avoid falling, was Nettle. The horned head seemed to be rather scared, nevertheless, she was also there.

As both Swift and Terry landed, in front of a very surprised croup of dinosaurs, they kept their eyes turned at the Hollows, both with fierce expressions. The jets in Swift's feet disappeared as he landed softly and safely in the ground, while Terry hovered slightly, and landed gently, as the wings disappeared, and he lowered his head, to allow Nettle to get down on the ground.

As they looked at the Hollows, they recovered, and snarled at them, snapping their jaws threateningly. Nettle yelped, and she went to hide behind Terry's leg. Swift simply snarled back, his hands emitting a white glow, as he was getting ready to fight with all he had.

Terry, only looked over his back at his two students, and he smiled at them, as he said, "Well, we heard that someone in here was in need of some help to deal with Hollows?" only the tranquil smile on his face made the two dinosaurs feel a lot safer in relation to just a few moments ago.

 

 

 


	9. The Enemy's Ambitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Order no fights the Ground Shaker Hollows...

Uri and Littlefoot felt like they could give a long and alleviated sigh as they saw Terry in there, with the rest of the group, ready to take action. As well as the rest of the group behind them, happy for seeing that help had come to the rescue at such a good opportunity.

Littlefoot's grandparents too, were glad to see the big sharptooth, and the rest of Litltlefoot's friends and partners of the order, and all of them seemed to be ready to take action and to fight off these evil creatures.

Swift snarled at the creatures as he stepped closer, as if he was defying them to try coming at him, and the Hollows answered by growling cruelly at him. Terry turned his head back at the Hollows, and he snorted.

Ground Shakers.

They didn't predicted he would be using them so soon.

That only meant one thing.

That he was completely sure of it. And he wanted to act now. He was or desperate or really confident. Anyway, throwing the best he had on them so soon was going to be difficult to them. However, Terry knew by his own experience, that when it happened, it showed that the person who was doing it was foolish, and was desperate to end a battle before it would prove to be too difficult. It was a clear sigh that the person was being too impulsive, and that was probably going to lose soon by expending all the forces that had.

However…

Terry snarled when he saw one of them Hollows getting ready to pounce at them, and it roared as it already charged at them.

Nettle yelped and hid behind Terry's leg, while Swift snarled back, and he charged too, at the bigger predator. Many would think he was crazy for charging at something so bigger and so clearly stronger than him. However, who Swift, knew that he was not the kind that did stupid things. The young man had already took out some creatures like this before, and he was confident over himself, and he knew what he did.

As he ran, Swift stretched his claws to the sides of his body, and immediately, they were enveloped in white shine, and Swift cried out. " ** _Hellfire Claws!_** " As he did, his claws were ignited, being bathed into an intense and very hot, scorching-white flame. It was so bright that it made the Hollow stop and look away, and made even some of the dinosaurs in the distance to look away as they looked directly at the bright light.

And there was also the heat. It was intense. So intense that Littlefoot could feel it slightly from where he stood. He was sure that the heat was so great that it would make who was near to back away to avoid getting burns in the body only from being close.

Still, he knew that it was useless when Swift was in a fight against you, because, if you tried to run away, the claws would chase after you.

Swift took hold of this brief moment of distraction, and stood in front of the Hollow, and swing out one of his claws. It left a trail of white flames and sparks on its path, and it hit the Hollow right in the chest. There was a lout screeching sound by the hollow, companied by a flashing white light from the hit, as the Hollow was cut clean in half.

Both parts fell to the ground as they dissolved, and Swift stood calm and serious, not denoting any emotion, save from the determination on his face as he faced the three Hollows that were left.

"Yeah! Go, Swift!" cried out Nettle as she kept hidden behind Terry's leg, and Littlefoot and Uri could only smile as they saw this. They knew pretty well the power that Swift's  ** _Hellfire Claws_**  had. Littlefoot himself had seem it in the first time during a training, when the sailback used it into a boulder. He still shivered as he thought what could happened of the sailback had used it in  _him_. He was pretty sure that he had a face that was just like the rest of the dinosaurs in there had, of pure astonishment, mixed with admiration and a little bit of fear.

The sailback, however, didn't even noticed, as he was focused on the Hollows that were left in front of him, and he was getting ready to deliver another blown with his fiery claws. When he had a very bad feeling in the back of his head and in the entrance of his stomach, telling him that there was something very wrong.

And he was right. In that same moment, blackness started to gurgle and to foam from the ground in some more spots, and Swift looked around himself as the foam was coming from the ground, and starting to take shape. However, he remained as impassive as it was possible, as the blackness took the shape of more of these creatures.

They all looked at the sailback in the middle of them, with his flaming claws, and they all snarled at him as they raised their claws and snapped their jaws, ready to fight and to make the smaller creature into pieces until there was nothing left of him.

"Oh no!" Nettle called out, and Terry only said, "Stay here." And he immediately ran in direction to the Hollows and Swift, a familiar orange glow forming in his tail, and soon taking shape, as his amulet shone with the power of the ancestor spirits.

Swift snarled back at the Hollows who surrounded him, and he got ready to attack. One of them roared, and was ready to jump at him and clamp the jaws right on his sail, to rip it off violently, causing to the sailback a painful and horrid death. However, the creature made out of darkness never truly had the chance of lay one single claw or teeth into Swift.

" ** _Clubtail Smash!_** " Terry cried out as he moved the club tail he had just acquired, smashing the said Hollow in the face. There was a loud sound as the creature was threw, blood and teeth flying from its mouth as it had been hit with enouhg strength to shatter a boulder, and it crashed into the nearby wall.

The sheer force was enough to make the head of the creature break into the wall, punching a hole in which the head got stuck.

Swift looked behind himself to see that he had just been saved by Terry, and now, the Hollows snarled at him as they distanced. Terry gave a quick glance at Swift, and they both traded a single nod as they knew that the battle was going to be hard.

And they were right about it, immediately, the Hollows all roared as they bared their teeth and raised their claws, ready to make them into pieces.

Swift snarled back at the creatures, the fire in his claws getting more intense, and Terry remained impassive, as the same orange light that there was on his tail started to form into the sides of his body, right above his small arms. This light spread outwards, and it started to take a very distinct shape.

They shaped like long arms, each one ending into a hand with three long claws, looking very fierce and made specially for battle.

The first Hollows jumped at Terry, however, the bonecrusher sharptooth was ready.

" ** _Longclaw Slash_!** " He cried out as he made a very fast and precise movement with his new claws, and he opened three big gashes in the body of the Hollow, which spurted black blood into the ground.

The Hollow roared as it stumbled back, however, it didn't had time to react, as soon, it was quickly stabbed in the head by three long claws, piercing the head until they bace out by the other side. The Hollows immediately dissolved into nothing more than black dust, and Terry quickly had to move in order to avoid being bitten by another of them.

He answered by making a complete spin and hitting the creature in the jaw with his club tail, making a loud crunching sound be heard as the jaw of the creature was broken. Immediately after, he moved his claws and pierced the creature's chest, making it let out a roar as it too dissolved into black dust.

Swift was also holding his ground quite well, as he was quickly swiping his flaming claws at the Hollows, and in that, he had already cut out the arms of two of them, still, they were coming at him, trying to bit off his head or his arms. Swift, of course, didn't gave them this chance, as he moved with amazing agility and with a natural ability for combat, as he swept his claws, and in that, he cut out the head of one of them, making the profane creature to disappear into black dust.

Swift, however, didn't stopped, for he soon turned to another one who was in front of him, and swiped his claws fast, cutting out the Hollow into an X-shape, making the pieces of him dissolve into black ash as they fell to the ground.

The rest of the dinosaurs watched from far as the two members of the Order used their abilities to fight these evil creatures, and they all remained only in the background as they watched that.

Grandma and Grandpa were also there, and they were watching with amazement to the display of pure power that the two sharpteeth were displaying as they fought these monsters. And they saw what a member of the Order of Leaf and Claw was truly capable of. It would be redundant to say that they were as amazed as the other dinosaurs who were watching, and they truly were. Also, they were somewhat scared. Scared for they could see the level of danger that the Order really faced. The level of danger that their own grandson, still into a young age, and not having entered the time of great growing yet, was made to face, possibly with frequency, for what they had been told.

The members of the order, however, were looking intently at their friends who fought the Hollows.

"Yeah! Go on, guys!" Nettle cheered as she punched the air, and Littlefoot and Uri watched intently as their friend and mentor both fought the Hollows. Both had heard perfectly well the command they had received to stay back, even because of their injuries and the difficulty they would take to fight like that. Yet, they both were ready, and why not say, in Uri's case, eager to jump to battle and hel defeat the Hollows if the challenge proved to be too difficult to the two sharpteeth on their own.

However, it was seeming that it definitely was not the case, as both Swift and Terry were able to keep up against these creatures very well, neither of them having been hit a single time yet. Swift was showing why he was one of the best fighters among the younger members of the Order, and Terry, was showing off the skill he had acquired after years of working in the Order and fighting the Hollows many and many times in his past. Both of them were showing that they were born to this.

Terry roared as he rammed his claws into the Hollow's chest, and right after, turned around and hit it in the same place with the tail, sending it flying away, to out of sight. At the same time, Swift made a quick spin as he jumped among two Hollows, and the next thing everybody knew, was that the heads of the Hollows had been cut clean off their bodies. They stood there as they heads dissolved, and soon, their bodies also dissolved into black ash, as Swift landed back into the ground safely, seeming unimpressed by what just happened.

All the dinosaurs could only look in amazement at this, all of them completely astonished from what they could see, and about what was happening. Littlefoot and his friends of the Order seemed to be the only ones who were not in complete awe, thought Nettle was cheering with all she had to the two dinosaurs.

Swift snorted as he landed back into the ground, and Terry stood by his side, his arms still covered by the long claws that were given to him by his magic. They both looked around, and saw that there were only left a handful of Hollows, and they didn't seemed to be stronger than the ones that they had already destroyed.

Ground Shakers were known for being among the biggest and most vicious sharpteeth, normally used to hunt down and take down the biggest foes and to destroy anything that stood in the way. They were more used to create havoc and chaos among people by destroying whole valleys and killing whole herds, one being after the other, be it males, females and children. They were despicable, and were also very dangerous, being normally formed b the darkest emotions, like hate, wrath and bloodlust.

They were not the kind of Hollow that you would face at anytime, for they were far too dangerous. Still, Terry was very experienced into fighting and he was very experienced into using his magic. Swift, on his side, was also good in fighting, and he had a magic that was particularly powerful. Both of them were able to hold their ground together against the Ground Shakers, and to score some good hits into them and defeat them. They were among the few that charged straight at them for a direct fight, even among the Order of Leaf and Claw.

Swift turned to the Hollows, his hands still ignited into white flames, and they seemed to become even more intense as he snarled at them, getting ready to pounce and to end them for good.

However, something happened that made the two dinosaurs stop. For a moment, it seemed that the Hollow was having some short of epileptic attack, for it started to convulse and to move, as if it was really having some short of attack of some kind.

Terry and Swift both shared a look, with raised eyebrows, as they looked at it as it twitched and convulsed slightly, the face making strange expressions, as if it was trying to discover how to smile and how to frown. After a few moments, it stopped, and the Hollow kept its head lowered, and finally, it raised it again, and its lips contorted into at cruel smirk.

" _Hello there... traitors..._ " The Hollow said in sharptooth, making both Terry and Swift back away a step as they were taken back by a Hollow suddenly talking. But they both recovered soon enough, as they both had already realized just what it was.

" _You..."_  Terry snarled back in sharptooth at the Hollow, not talking to it, but to the one who was using it to talk.

The Hollow smirked back, as it looked at Terry, and gave a single step forward, as it continued. " _Terry. Young Swift."_  It said, as it looked at both of them. " _I could say it is a pleasure to see you both, but I'm being honest, each time that I see you traitors I feel my stomach convulsing._ "

As he spoke it, the note of despise was evident into his voice, as well as by the disgusted expression at his face. Swift snarled at him. " _An why exactly are we traitors?"_  He roared in sharptooth " _Only because we don't agree with the way you do things? Because we believe that is possible to have a better world where we don't need to kill to survive? Because we want a better world for everyone to live in? Or only because we get in the way of letting dinosaurs like you get what they want?_ "

The despise and anger was evident in his voice as he roared it to the Hollow. It was easy to perceive it, even if you could not understand a single word of what was being said, as it was the case of all the leaf eaters present.

The residents of the Great Valley looked a bit, as it seemed that the sharpteeth had suddenly decided to snarl, roar, click and grumble at the Hollows, and they did the same back to them. Some of them, like Grandpa and Grandma, realized that it was a bit more than that. Living near Chomper had helped them understand that sharpteeth had their own particular language and, despite not being able to understand it, they could recognize some of this "sharptooth speech" due to the clear pattern that there was in it. Still, they were confused by someone from the Order seemingly be talking to one of these Hollows, after all the things that they were told about them.

Littlefoot, however, as well as Uri and Nettle, understood a little better what was happening, for they had a little more knowledge about the Hollows than the rest of the present dinosaurs, and also because of some other reasons.

The Hollow snarled, as it spoke again, with a voice heavily distorted, but still intelligible by the sharpteeth standards. " _Well, I'd like to keep trading these common kindness with you all night, but I rather go straight to the point._ "

He looked at both sharpteeth, and he gave a single step forward, smirking, as he snarled the next words. " _You know why I'm here. You know what I want, and I know that you know. So, why don't we skip all the talk and you simply give to me? Do this, and I promise to leave this Valley and all of it's residents to live."_  He even smirked as he purred the next words. " _If you give me now, I might even consider sparing your pathetic, worthless lives. For tonight, at least."_  He was grinning as wide as a shark as he said it.

Swift snarled in anger at the Hollow, both at the creature as for the one that talked through it. " _You really think we are going to do it?_ " Swift barked angrilly at him, and he added " _Even if we would even DREAM about doing it, you would end up attacking this Valley and killing everyone in here just because you can!_ "

" _We know your motives, and we know your ambitions_ " Said Terry, looking at thye Hollow deep in the eye, and reaching his vision to see just who was on the other side of that face. " _And we also know that you know us pretty well. Enough to know that we are in here for ths very same reason, and that we are willing to die for our cause. So don't even dream that we will simply betray our cause and comply with your demands."_

The Hollow snarled. " _Oh, so the ones who betrayed their own species are reluctant into betraying the group that they are part of? Don't tell me that now the ones who get friends with the food suddenly have standards!"_

Swift snarled, and seemed ready to pounce at him into the next word that made him angry. He knew that who was talking was at a safe distance, and that destroying thye Hollow was not going to affect him in the slightest, still, killing it was going to make him feel darn good!

" _We are all ready to die for our goal, and you know it pretty well._ " Said Terry to him, letting it very clear that they were not going to negotiate. " _We will stand to the end, and you will not touch anyone who lives in this valley._ "

The Hollow snarled at him, saying " _Well, I was hoping that you could be a little reasonable and avoid unnecessary deaths. But it seems I was wrong."_  The Hollow looked at them, giving a few more steps forward in their direction, as seemed that he was ready to attack. Then, he opened a slightly smirk, and he said, " _Well, let's see if the residents are a little more reasonable than you._ "

Before Terry or Swift could thought at what he meant by that, he suddenly cried out, and in perfect leaf eater.

"Attention, residents of the Great Valley!"

This shocked everyone, as they heard it talk in a perfect leaf eater language, and they were stunned for a few moments, as it continued.

"I'm here, and my Hollows are coming to your Valley because there is one thing in there that I  _really_  want." He cried out, as he gave one more step forward. "So, if you give it to me, I'll simply leave your Valley alone and let you live your lives! Otherwise, if you deny it to me, I'll be forced to send more and more of my Hollows there to destroy the place and kill everyone until I have it in my power!"

The Order looked in horror at him, and soon, he was saying. "It is actually pretty simple, all I want is-"

But he was never able to give it, because in this same moment, he was hit in the face by a huge fireball, which exploded his whole head. A small gift from Swift, who was panting as smoke was coming out of his mouth.

The body of the Hollow soon dissolved into black dust, which got spread over the ground. Immediately, all the other Hollows cried out as they jumped. The retaliation was quick.

Swift jumped, and hit two of them in the heads with his claws, making them explode and the bodies of the Hollows, or what was left of them, quickly decomposed into black dust.

Terry, on his side, was quick and swift with his claws, quickly slashing and stabbing the creatures into several areas, with a speed and agility that few people would expect into someone of his size. And quickly, all the three Hollows that were left started to decomposed into black dust and scatter over the ground, one after the other, vanishing without leaving behind a single solid trance that they ahd ever existed.

After it was done, the two meat eaters stood behind, Terry with a serious expression on his face as his claws dematerialized, and Swift panting slightly, as the flames in his claws finally flicked out.

After a few moments, both sharpteeth looked over, to see all the other dinosaurs, and all of them looking stunned.

Littlefoot looked at them, and he turned his head to look at the adults, who had already started to talk among themselves about what had just happened and, most of all, about what the Hollow had said to them.

Littlefoot turned his head back at Terry, looking worried, and the big sharptooth could perfectly understand his concern. He too was very concerned, for what had happened was only going to complicate things.

* * *

"...And it said that if we gave it to him it would leave us alone!" Finished the clubtail, as he just told the other residents all that had happened, and this, of course, lead everybody to mumble among themselves.

Though it was now late, the roaring and all the commotion that had happened with the attack of the Hollows had wake up most anyone that was into the Valley. And now, all of them wanted to know what all the commotion was about, and soon, they all were getting filled about the details of what had transpired from the dinosaurs who had witnessed it.

"That thing talked, really?" Said someone, and a lot of people agreed with it, and all the eyes turned at the members of the Order, who stood there. Uri and Swift stood calmly, Swift was much more serious than Uri, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. Littlefoot and Nettle both looked uneasy, and they didn't felt very comfortable with this much attention turned to them. Terry was the calmer of them, and he looked at his students, and he sighed, as he stepped forward to talk.

"Please, calm down, everyone!" He called out, granting everyone to look at him, though they took a while to actually silence and let him talk and, as soon as they did, the next thing that happened was that they started to bombard the bonecrusher sharptooth with questions.

"How did that thing talked?"

"Didn't you said that these things didn't had mind of their own?"

"What is that they want?"

"They will really leave Great Valley alone if we give it to them?"

"What is going on?"

There were a lot of questions, many of them Terry was already expecting, and others made him feel uncomfortable. Terry knew that the only way to sate them was to give them some answers.

Terry just hoped that this was not to ruin their mission.

Taking a long sigh, Terry finally spoke to the mass of dinosaurs who were there.

"I know that you all are confused, and I hope I can answer a few of your questions." Terry said, and he looked around, and all the dinosaurs, both young and old were looking at him. "The Hollows, as we already explained, are beings made out of negative emotion, and as son, they have no knowledge of positive feelings, or of any kind of interaction with other creatures."

There was a silence, and Terry continued. "However, most times, they are controlled by someone, one mind that tells them what to do and how to act. Also, sometimes, through the correct means, the master of a Hollow can see and hear through the Hollow's senses, perceiving the world from its perspectives. Sometimes, in rare occasions, it is even possible that the master achieves such a connection with the Hollow that it can act through its' body, using it to fight as if it was his or hers' own body, and even speak through the Hollow's mouth."

This lead to a wave of mumbles among the dinosaurs, as this new piece of information raised a lot more questions. Of course, this was not long before someone actually asked them to the sharptooth.

"What were you and the Hollow talking about?" Asked one clubtail, just one of the dinosaurs who were there and saw all that happened. Terry looked at him as he asked that. "Before the thing, or it master, or whatever, talked to us, it seemed to be talking to you and the sailback, and it seemed that you all were talking about something."

There was a wave of mumbles, as a lot of people were agreeing with it. Terry looked at them, and he let out a heavy sigh, casting a single glance at his students, specially at the worried face of Littlefoot, before he spoke.

"He was trying to convince us to cooperate with its plans." Terry finally spoke, granting all dinosaurs to look at him. "It was trying to make us give him what he wanted, but we refused."

"Why?" Asked someone among the residents, and Terry was quick to answer. "Because if he has it than it will be worse for everyone."

"So, you know what he wants?" Asked someone else.

"Do you know who it is?" Asked another dinosaur, and it was no one else than Mr. Threehorn. All the eyes turned to him, and the old threehorn walked forward, looking the sharptooth dead in the eye. "Do you know who it is and you know what it want, don't you?" He asked, stepping forward in an almost threatening way. "Spit it out, meat breath!"

Oh, Terry wanted to spit. Right in the threehorn's face.

He groaned, and he continued, "This enemy, is a very dangerous one, and he is willing to do anything to get what he wants."

"And what he wants?" asked the threehorn. Terry looked at him, and he turned back to the rest of the residents of the Great Valley, and he spoke. "We don't know."

That was the second time that the sharptooth spoke that he didn't knew something, and now, just like last time, he was avoiding to make direct eye contact with anyone. This only brought up more suspects from the threehorn.

"It is truth what he said?" Asked someone, diverging the subject, "If we give what he wants he will truly leave the Great Valley alone?"

Swift snarled slightly as that was said, and Littlefoot only looked to he ground. After a few moments, Terry continued. "We don't know."

"So we could try! We could only find out what he wants and give it to him!" Someone said, and as soon as it was said, there was a roar.

"Who said that!?" Swift cried out, his hands immediately igniting in white flames, making everyone back away a step. "Come here and repeat it in my face!"

"Swift!" Terry said, casting a hard glance in direction to the sailback, who looked back at him with ferocity, before lowering his hands, the fire in them going off. The dinosarus all looked scared at it, before Terry finally spoke again.

"This enemy we are facing is dangerous." He spoke to everyone. "If we give him what he wants, it is most likely that he will destroy your Valley anyway."

"So you know who it is!" Said Threehorn, looking at the sharptooth. Terry looked down at him, and the two dinosaurs had a short staring contest, the ferocity among them being very perceptible.

"Why you don't want this one to get what he wants?" Threehorn asked to the big sharptooth. "Because you want it to yourself? Or because it would mess up with your plans?"

Terry snarled very slightly at the threehorn, but he didn't did anything. He just took a long breath, and he sighed, and he spoke. "We must be careful from now own." He looked at everyone as he spoke that. "The things will start to get worse now, and we must be ready."

He turned to his students. "Swift, you and I will make the patrols, the others, go and rest, we need to think on new strategies tomorrow." He turned to the residents of the Great Valley, and he saw all the eyes staring at him. He sighed, and he said to them, "I know that many of you don't trust me, and you probably have no reasons to trust. But I'm asking you to do so, because we are not your enemies."

There was some mumbles as the dinosaurs of the Valley, who just heard it, started to talk among themselves. The Order knew pretty well that they were discussing among them what had transpired. Based on what had happened, some of them could chose to believe them, others could think it was not a good idea.

And one of these last decided to spoke.

"Yeah, you are right about one thing, sharptooth." Mr. Threehorn spoke, stepping forward, as everyone looked at him. "We really  _don't_  have any reason to trust you."

Swift snarled at him, as the others shared a worried look among themselves, and Terry only looked at the threehorn with a neutral expression, as he continued. "We don't have any reason to listen to you or to give you any of our trust, and I mean  _all_  of you!"

He said, casting a glance at Terry's students, which all flinched. Swift snarled as he bared his claws, ready to pounce at that old bull and show him what happened when you messed with the order. However, he was stopped by Terry, who put a feet on his way, making him look up at him.

A single glance was enough for Terry to let Swift understood exactly what he wanted to say. Swift snarled, as he gave a step back and stood where he was. Terry looked at Mr. Threehorn, and then, he spoke calmly.

"We are not your enemies." He said in a firm voice, looking at the threehorn right in the eyes. The bull didn't seemed to buy it, even though he could see that Terry seemed to be totally honest when he said that. "We just want the best for everyone, and we only want to protect this valley, and everyone who lives in here. I really hope you can see that. All of you."

There was a silence, broke by some mumbles as the dinosaurs talked among themselves. Mr. Threehorn said nothing in return, but he let it very clear with a single stare in the big sharptooth's eyes that this was still far from over. With that, the old bull turned around and walked away.

After a few moments, Terry sighed, and he said aloud for everyone to hear. "Swift and I will take the patrol from tonight." Everybody looked at him as he spoke this. "The rest of you, go home and rest. We will discuss the situation better in the morning."

Some dinosaurs shared a look, and they all nodded, and so, Terry turned to his students, looking at Uri and Littlefoot. "This means you too. Littlefoot, go back to your nest and rest, you need to heal your wounds. And Uri." He looked at the threehorn "You need to get your wound treated before they start to get worse. Nettle, please, take care of him, okay?"

"Right!" The horned head said as she approached Uri and put two hands on his head. Uri, however, didn't seemed very happy with the idea of being away from a real fight and not being able to help. He even tried to protest, but Terry was quick to silence him with a single glance, and so, he started to let Nettle lead him, as she was already looking around as if to find the herbs she needed to treat his wounds immediately.

Littlefoot too nodded at Terry's orders, and he started to turn back, to meet with his grandparents, in the way, his friends from the Great Valley made him stop in his tracks. Littlefoot looked surprised art them, as they all looked at him with some short of worry.

"Littlefoot." Said Ducky. "What will happen now?" She asked, her voice filled with some worry and fear for the future. Littlefoot wasn't sure about how to answer, once he didn't wanted his friends to worry, still, he knew that there  _was_  reason to worry. And this thought plagued his mind as he looked into the face of each one of them, from Ducky to Chomper.

After a while, he finally said, "I don't know." As he looked down, but he raised his head, looking at all of them, and he said, "But, we will do all we can to keep the Great Valley safe, and all of you too." He looked like he really meant it, because he  _did_  really meant it. "I promise."

This seemed to be enough to his friends, as they all were able to smile a little, and then, he heard his grandparents calling him.

"Littlefoot." Grandpa called for him, "Let's go."

Littlefoot looked and he gave a quick goodbye to his friends, and they all went their separated ways. Chomper and Ruby back at the Secret Caves, while all his other friends went back to their families, to go back to their respective nests.

The only one who wasn't there was Cera, and Littlefoot was even able to caught a single glimpse of her.

He saw her at distance, by the side of her family, including her father. For a moment, her eyes met Littlefoot's. She quickly looked away, but Littlefoot could get a glimpse of a emotion in them that he was not able to identify immediately, however, it was a kind of feeling that made him feel bad with himself, and he didn't knew exactly why.

* * *

Littlefoot was walking back to his nest with his grandparents. His small footsteps crushed the wet grass under himself as his grandparents much heavier one make the ground shake slightly at each step they give.

"We are lucky that Terry and Swift were there in time." Littlefoot said, looking up at his family, and his grandparents both nodded, agreeing with him.

"Yes, indeed, little one." Said Grandpa "Your friends are really truly strong."

That was putting it mildly. Grandpa was still amazed by the shown of power that they both had seen less than one hour ago, and so was his wife. Actually, she was still seeming to be slightly shaken. They both were still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened tonight, and with all the things that they knew that could come to happen in the next days.

Littlefoot looked at his grandparents as if sensing that they were worried about hi, and about all of that, and he said. "Don't worry."

The two elderly longnecks looked at their small grandson, who smiled warmly at them, and he said, "It will all be okay. We will all be okay. We have trained hard for things like that, and we can surely keep the Valley and everyone say. I promise that it will be alright."

Well, now that was unusual. A young one being the one to comfort and assure the adults. That was usually not what happened, however, it was not as strange as some might think. People usually forget that the adults were kids once, and that they knew what it was to had doubts and fears. More commonly, it seemed that people forget that the adults still had their own problems now and them, and that they still felt scared and nervous, and that sometimes they too needed to receive a little comforting word from someone.

Surely, it seemed that was all that Grandpa and Grandma needed at that moment, and Littlefoot seemed to have got it right into the spot. His words seemed to be enough to make his grandparents smile down at him, having their doubts a little eased by the words of their dear grandson, who seemed so determined and confident that it was enough to make them feel confident and more optimist too.

Littlefoot smiled when he saw that, and he turned back as he was leading the way. "I don't know what the others are thinking by saying that we should give the enemy what he wants."

He said that casually, as if to try to chance the subject, even if slightly, focusing more on the now than in the tomorrow. He continued to talk to them about that subject "I mean… it would not be very smart, right?"

He was expecting his grandparents to agree with him, and to say that it was indeed a bad idea, that it was something that they should never do, and that Terry had all the reason by denying this kind of thing.

However, nothing could prepare him to what he was going to hear next.

There was a moment of silence, and after a while, Grandpa finally spoke. "Actually, Littlefoot... I don't think that it would be a bad idea."

This caught Littlefoot completely off guard, and he immediately stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his grandfather with wide eyes as if he had just grown five more heads.

"What!?" Littlefoot nearly shouted, as he looked at his grandfather in shock. The elderly longneck only looked back at his grandson, and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Littlefoot, we just saw today how much this enemy can be dangerous, whatever it is." He said, sounding as if it pained to say these words to his young grandson. It was clear that it was painful to him, but the elder felt like he should be honest to Littlefoot, telling him what he really thought

"When the Hollow... Or the controller... Said that only wanted a little thing that there was on our Valley, and that would leave us all alone if he got it, I don't know, he actually seemed to be quite sincere."

Littlefoot could not belive his own ears. He could not believe that he was truly these words being said. Not by his own grandfather...

"B-but... Grandpa..." Littlefoot said, but he found himself somehow unable to finish the sentence, as if the words had somehow all slipped away from his mind. So, as he was completely silent, Grandpa sighed, and he continued, still feeling bad for saying this to Littlefoot, but thinking that it was better to tell him.

"Littlefoot, Great Valley is our home, and it's safety, as well as the one of everyone in here is the most important thing." The elderly longneck said, looking away, as if he could not face his grandson as he spoke these words. "Sometimes the better battle is actually one that you can avoid. One that never even needs to happen. So, if giving him what he wants would really avoid a fight and many loses, then maybe we should really give it to him and he would leave us alone."

That was not truth.

Littlefoot knew it far too well.

Even if they give, what Littlefoot would never even dream of doing, he would most likely only leave the Valley alone for a time being. Sooner or later he would return, and it would only be worse for everyone.

Littlefoot knew that, and he wanted to say it.

He wanted to shout out to the sky that it was the worst idea ever, and that it would not solve any problem. Right the opposite, doing it would only actually make things worse.

However, the young longneck was still having problems to find his voice.

"G-Grandpa..." Littlefoot was able to let out, feeling his legs slightly shaken by the lead that conversation was taking. The elderly longneck said.

"Littlefoot. You know you are the most important thing in the world to us." As he said it, he finally looked back at Littlefoot, looking at him in the eyes. And he spoke even more, "We just saw how dangerous this all can be for you and for everyone involved. We don't want to lose you, and we are not willing to let it happen."

He really meant every single word of what he was saying, and it was easy to say by the look in his face, his eyes denoting true worry for the safety and well-being of Littlefoot.

"We want to protect you with all we can, and, if that really means that we would have to give up something we have here in Great Valley, no matter what it was, for the price of you being safe and sound, then I think I wouldn't need to think twice before accepting it."

He looked as if he was telling the most absolute truth, and looking over, Littlefoot could see in his Grandma's eyes that she also complied with pretty much everything that her husband had just said.

And that completely terrified Littlefoot.

Littlefoot looked at them, and then, he slowly lowered his head, saying nothing. Grandpa and Grandma both shared a look at the expression that had into their little grandson, and they both shared a worried look. They knew that what they said went directly in conflict with what he had probably been told by his mentor from the Order of Leaf and Claw, and it would probably sound as a betrayal to the rest of his friends from there. However, the two elders had to tell Littlefoot what was on their minds. They needed to be honest with him, even if it was going ot hurt him.

And it seemed that it did.

"Littlefoot?" Grandpa called, and he said gently "Littlefoot, I know that it sounds hard to hear, but you must understand that the safety of everyone, including you, comes first. We don't want you to agree with us, but you must understand that we have our own position."

There was a silence, and after that, Littlefoot slowly nodded. "Y-yes..." He said, still sounding just a little shaken. "I understand..."

Indeed, Littlefoot understood what they were saying. He understood the reason behind them be positioning themselves like that. However, he knew that he wouldn't agree with it. There was absolutely no way of him agreeing with it. Never.

Not in a million years.

Still, there was nothing he could do about their opinion.

"Let's go home." He said, and started to lead the way again. His grandparents shared a worried look, but they both started following Littlefoot again. The young longneck now seemed far less agitated than he was at a few moments ago, and the elders could not avoid but feel like it was their fault.

After a while, Grandma brought up another subject.

"Littlefoot. Earlier you said that you had something that you wanted to tell us." She said, trying to keep their minds away from the subject. She looked at her grandson, who looked at the ground as she spoke it. "What was it?"

There was a moment in which Littlefoot almost stopped, but he kept walking and looking at the ground, as he answered to his Grandma, with a distant voice. "Nothing. It... It was nothing important."

The two elders shared a look, and they thought that maybe Littlefoot was not wanting to talk to them about anything right now. So they decided to let him be. Little did they knew that, right there and then, Littlefoot was just telling them a big and fat lie. And he was just praying to the Great Circle, Night Circle, the spirits and whoever else was hearing him at the moment that his grandparents just weren't going to notice it.

* * *

"Things are getting really complicated." Said Swift as he walked side by side with Terry, the bigger sharptooth looking around as they walked near the entrances of the Great Valley, searching for any sign of a Hollow that could be sneaking around, trying to get into the Valley without begin seem.

"I'm starting to think that nothing will go according to what we planned." Swift said, and Terry looked back at him, and he said.

"Well, things like that happen, and that is why we have rule 27#."

Swift nodded. Yeah, he already knew most of Terry's rules. Some of them he actually liked, others, not so much. Still, some of these rules already saved his life a few times, literally. He heard that Terry had created them from out of his own experience in his several years serving at the Order and fighting all kinds of enemies, from merciless dinosaurs who killed for pleasure to their own sworn enemies that wanted to destroy all that they represented.

The point was that, Terry had a lot of knowledge to share with everyone who was his student, and hearing it could be very useful to you in the future. That was why Swift, despite not liking very much to follow orders, made his best to hear to what Terry had to say, even if, sometimes, it proved to be a real challenge.

He could only sigh, and said, "So, what is the new plan?"

"First, we all gather together tomorrow and we discuss a new course of action." Terry said, "But I don't think we will have as much of the trust of the residents of the Valley as we would like."

"Yeah, I honestly don't care." Swift said, and Terry looked at him, as he said calmly "You should. Because in cases like that, having the trust of the person can be the difference between the success and the failure."

Swift sighed, as he was not in the mood to argue now. He simply nodded, and he said, "I already knew that they were going to act like that." He sounded almost angry when he said that, almost as if he was reprobating all of the residents by the way they were acting.

"They are scared." Terry said, "They don't know the whole story, and this leaves them insecure on what to do."

"They would do a stupid thing anyways." Swift said, as he kept looking around, walking side by side with Terry "These guys are easy to panic, and they would never consider to help us if they actually knew-"

But Swift stopped suddenly, as he looked over his own shoulder, and as he did, Terry said. "So, you realized it now?"

It seemed that, whatever it was, Terry had already realized it a while ago. The older sharptooth had sharper senses to perceive what was around him. It seemed that he had realized it, but was waiting to see how long Swift would take to realize.

Swfit sniffed the air, and he immediately recognized the smell. He immediately curled his lips as he growled.

Terry simply looked over his shoulder, and he said, "Go back home, Threehorn." He didn't sounded angry, just slightly annoyed. "You are terrible at following someone without being noticed."

From under a great rock, the old Threehorn cursed under his breath. Loud enough for both Swift and Terry to hear, and Terry only said. "Go home." As he was talking to the hidden threehorn. "Go back to your family. We can keep the patrol from here." And with that, he turned around and started to walk again.

Swift stood behind, snarling slightly, and Terry called him. "Swift, let's go."

The sailback stood where he was for a few moments, but he finally started to move back. He was walking backwards, with his front turned at the place that he could sense the threehorn into.

He was still needing to work a little more in the rules, as he knew. Once that, right then, he had failed in at least three of them. However, he was not going to fail in rule 13#. He kept his eyes in the area behind himself all the time, as he was walking backwards to keep up with Terry, and he kept like that until he finally saw the old threehorn get out from where he was hidden and start to walk away, but not before he cast a venomous glance at Swift.

The sailback snarled, and kept looking at him until he was far, and only then he resumed walking normally.

Mr. Threehorn was walking back, thinking these dinosaurs to be turning stranger and stranger as the time passed. He didn't discovered as much as he expected to discover by following these two sharpteeth. However, he didn't found something that he already knew, and now he was more sure than he had ever been in his life.

They were all hiding something.

 

 


	10. Trust Between Friends and Tag Duo Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fight with the Ground Shaker Hollows and the reveal of the ambitions of the enemy, things are difficult for the Order...

Three days...

Three whole days…

That was the time that had passed since the attack of the Ground Shaker Hollows and the events that had transpired after in that same night.

During this time, Terry and his students had established their own routine into the Great Valley. They patrolled the area in turns at day and night, and they keep an eye for anything that could remotely look like a Hollow and that could threaten the Valley. While this, they also ate and they also trained in a daily basis, with eventual stops to socialize with the other residents, and they were being surprisingly successful. With maybe the exception of Swift who was the kind of guy who liked to remain on his own space.

Terry was a good figure to have around, responsible and nice to talk, and most of the residents, after a few minutes of talk with him, seemed barely to even mind that he was a sharptooth. He 3was the kind of guy who was nice to talk, and who seemed to have a lot of wisdom to share with however asked him, very much like grandpa Longneck, if you change the species and the alimentary habits…

Nettle was a very good figure, and she was nice and bubbly, almost like she was still a child, even though she was a nearly full-grown adult. Her innocent ways and her constant positive behavior was enough to make most of the people, especially the young ones, simply love to be around her. Not to mention the fact that she, truth to the Order's words, was a very skilled healer, and she was very willing to heal anyone that came to her with a wound or anything of the like, and she would heal them as good and quick as she healed Littlefoot and Uri.

Talking about them, they wounds had completely healed in the matter of one day. That amazed the residents of the Great Valley, since wounds like that normally would take many days, maybe even weeks, to heal fully, and they would leave behind some very visible scars. However the wounds of the two had healed with amazing speed, and they didn't left behind any form of mark or scar of any kind, as if the wounds itselves had never even happened, such was the efficiency with they had healed. That was enough to amaze most everyone.

Since they were healed, the two dinosaurs also could join the routine of the Order, with the patrols, and trainings and the other stuff. Uri was proving himself to be quite sociable, and also to be a very interesting kind of guy. He acted brash and arrogant, as people were already used to expect from threehorns, from all the time that they lived with one that was just like that, but he also showed some kind of behavior that made people want to be around him. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was not as aggressive and arrogant as certain other threehorn in the Great Valley usually was, and also, the fact that he didn't hesitated to show off his skills to how asked him, and they were usually amazing. Of course, he didn't lost the chance to brag about that, and he usually did so with a style that made him look cool. As a result, most people liked him.

And Littlefoot… well, there was nothing much to be said but that he was still the same longneck that the Great Valley knew, but that also he was with some more responsibility. Some even said that the longneck seemed more of an adult now than he was when he vanished, and Littlefoot associated this to the work that he had to do with the Order. Despite this, the longneck continued with the routine of the Order, which including training and patrolling. Of course, the trainings were the kind of that made his grandparents worry that Littlefoot could get seriously hurt if a single step went wrong, but the longneck clamed them down by saying that he was used to it and that it was okay, since they did not fought to kill during the trainings. This had little effect to actually calm them down, but it seemed to be enough for them to relax slightly and let him go with the routine. And of course, the patrols, which went from the moment that the bright circle set to the end of the night, and sometimes lasted all night along. These kinds of things made Littlefoot feeling tired in the end, and made him just want to lay down to sleep.

Littlefoot knew that they were needed, still, they were not seeing any kind of sign of a Hollow or anything similar in the last days, and while many in the Valley took it as a good sign, and they were starting to calm down from their worries, Littlefoot knew that he could not calm down. Littlefoot knew that he should not drop his guard and that he should remain alert, for that pause on an attack was something that he learned to worry about. Along with the others of the Order, they had nearly doubled their attentive look, as if they were expecting the enemy to attack when they would be the most vulnerable.

Still, that didn't stop him from continuing to be a child.

Littlefoot might have his responsibilities, but he was always more than ready to go play with his friends if they called him. They would play hopper, hide and go seek, swimmer splasher, and many other games. Of course, Nettle also joined, feeling very happy in playing with Littlefoot's friends, and getting to know netter of each one of them besides what she already knew through Littlefoot. The longneck enjoyed that. He enjoyed having his friends together like that, and that they were still able to play and laugh as if none of their worries even existed.

Of course, it would be better if  _all_  of his friends were able to be there with him.

For the past days, Cera had been growing away from Littlefoot, going more and more distant from him. Actually, in the past days, the young longneck barely had the chance to get a proper conversation with her. Littlefoot knew that it maybe was because of her father, who still mistrusted all the Order, and was still insisting in discovering whatever secret they were keeping for themselves. He was not allowing Cera to go near them, and Littlefoot knew that when the old bull put something in his head, there were very few ways of making him changing his mind over the subject.

However, slowly Littlefoot was realizing that it could be more than that. It almost didn't seemed that it was her father telling her to stay away, it was almost seeming that Cera was avoiding him purposely, even when her father was not around. When he tried to approach her she would look away and walk away from him. It was almost like he was some creature from which she didn't wanted to get near, as if she didn't liked him anymore.

Sure, Littlefoot could understand if she felt hurt for him having left and taking so much time to return, but now it seemed something else. It seemed as if she was mad at him for something that he had done, and she didn't wanted to be near him anymore.

And each time that she looked him in the eyes from a distance, Littlefoot would see that look. The look that she gave that made it seems like she was upset and hurt, and as if he was the one to blame because of it. This kind of look made Littlefoot had a very sick feeling in his guts, as he could only conclude that Cera was really upset at him from some reason.

"Littlefoot?" someone asked him, making the longneck snap back to reality, and he looked over, to see Nettle looking at him, she looked worried. "Are you alright?" She asked him innocently, and Littlefoot could only shake away the feeling that he was having, and he said, "I was just thinking."

And with that said, Littlefoot turned his head back to bushes form which he was eating, and Nettle looked at him worried for a few more moments, before she too also resumed eating her own food, and she knew that there was something troubling Littlefoot. She might not be the smartest dinosaur, but she knew that there was a problem with him, that there was something making him sad, and she felt sorry for Littlefoot because she felt like she could do nothing to help.

* * *

Cera was watching Littlefoot from a distance. Hidden behind a bush and a considerable distance from him and the horned head, she only saw them both eating. It was still early in the morning, and she was using this chance to watch Littlefoot and the others from a distance, since her father had forbidden her from going near Littlefoot and these other strange dinosaurs.

She could only watch them as she could think of several different things all at once. She wondered what was that thing which her father insisted that the Order was hiding. Sure, she knew that her father sometimes could be a little paranoid, as it was clear by the way he acted when Ruby and Chomper first came to live in the Great Valley. Still, the way that she saw Littlefoot and the adult bonecrusher sharptooth trade looks, and the way he looked at sometimes when they were talking…

It just made it seems like her father was right and they were actually hiding something. Cera could not shake away the feeling, no mattered how much she tried, and she could feel it coming to plague her head at all times when she was trying to think of something else.

She could wonder what would be it. She wondered why Littlefoot would keep a secret that was, by what all was pointing, directly related to the safety of the Great Valley and of everyone who lived in it. It made no sense that he would not share it with his grandparents, or with the other people, or even with his own friends.

Maybe it was not important… But then, Littlefoot would not act the way he did when the subject was mentioned, and the sharptooth would not have looked at him that way.

Maybe it was something easy to solve?

But them, they would not try to make it a secret, and they would not make so much effort in hiding this information from others.

Maybe Littlefoot didn't trusted them…

This option hurt Cera, but it seemed to almost be the case in that. Maybe it was so important that Littlefoot felt like he could not trust this information to anyone else in the Valley. Nor the residents. Nor his own family. Nor his friends.

Not even her…

Cera shook away her head as she felt a very bad feeling creeping in his mind, and she only kept looking at Littlefoot, as more questions would surface in her mind. More specifically, about the even that happened three days ago.

The one who was controlling the Hollows wanted something, and it seemed that the Order knew what it was that he wanted. More than that, by what she had heard, it seemed that they also knew who was that enemy who was attacking them, which conflicted with their past affirmation that they had no idea of who this enemy was.

Why would they lie about that?

Why would they not want the enemy to get it?

Was this enemy dangerous?

What was the whole point of it? Did they also wanted what the enemy was searching and they wanted to get it first? It was all about some mad race to see how got it in first place?

These and much more questions popped in Cera's head more than the mud of a bubbling pit, and it was only getting worse with each day that was passing without the answers coming.

She was wondering just why Littlefoot was hiding this kind of information from them and why he didn't trust them enough to simply tell.

She attained to that thought. The one that Littlefoot did not trusted enough in them to share this information, be it by his own decision or by the influence of these others.

Yeah, maybe these other dinosaurs were influencing to have him to keep distance from his friends and keep secrets from them. However, Cera had very little evidence or reasons to think that Littlefoot was being manipulated by them into doing what he was doing. She felt like he was keeping secrets from them because he actually wanted to. That thought was making she feel even worse, for it entailed that Littlefoot had somehow stopped trusting them, and that he was purposely supporting whatever secret the ones from the Order were keeping because he trusted in them much more than he did in his own friends, who had been with him through so many adventures in the past.

Thinking like that was deeply hurting Cera, and for more reasons than one.

She could only look at him from the distance, into the place that she was hiding, and she decided that it was no use at all simply looking at him from hiding while he was with his new friends. It was somehow a waste of time, and Cera was not willing to simply look as Littlefoot was having fun with his other friends.

She sighed and she was now turning around to leave.

As soon as she started to move aside, Littlefoot immediately perked his head.

The time he spent training with the Order had helped him to hone his senses, to the point that he could sense movement around him if he was focused enough. As so, he felt when there was someone in there, and it was close. Littlefoot immediately looked around, and he spotted a yellow shape starting to move away from him.

"Cera?" Littlefoot spoke to himself, as she wondered if who he was seeing was really who he was thinking. Well, there was only one way to be sure…

"Cera?" Littlefoot cried out, and the threehorn heard him. She looked back at him and, for a single moment, their eyes met. Both had surprise in their eyes, Littlefoot for again Cera again and the threehorn girl for having been caught in the act, and that was why she had in her face, besides the surprise, also some. She usually faced anything head on and without backing down, but now, she was doing something that, in her father's opinion, was a thing that no threehorn with a little of self-respect should ever do: she was running away.

She simply turned around and started to run as fast as she could. Littlefoot looked at her confused for a few moments, and immediately, he started to sprint in her direction. "Cera, wait!" He called out as he ran, leaving behind a slightly confused Nettle, and he continued to run after Cera, but the threehorn seemed not interested in stop and talk to him.

Cera ran past the grass, startling a few dinosaurs that were calmly eating it when she ran past them. Littlefoot was right behind her, passing and also surprising a little the residents as they ate, and he was still calling her, telling her to slow down. However, Cera was not willing to hear him, and she simply kept running, hoping that he was going to eventually get tired and give up. Longnecks were known for not being exactly fans of running too much, due to their developed sizes that made it hard for them to keep a fast pace for too long.

However, Littlefoot was soon showing that he had somehow attained more stamina than in the last time that Cera had seen him, for now he not only was running for longer than he used to, but also, he seemed like he had learnt to run faster. The longneck was easily keeping up with her, and it didn't even seemed that he was truly making efforts for that! It was just like Ruby when she wanted to keep pace with them, and she did it easily.

Man, how did Littlefoot learned to run so fast? That was the only question that could rang through Cera's mind as she was still trying to lose the longneck behind her, and now she was starting to get desperate to do so. She was running into the bushes, going past rocks and hard terrain, and she was making several turns in every rock and tree that she could find in her way, to try to get the longneck to get lost and to stop following her as if he was her shadow. Anyone who would look, would simply assume that the kids were having fun playing tag, and that it was the longneck's turn, after all, they already seen the two young dinosaurs and his other friends playing that several times. Seeing them do it one more time was absolutely not a surprise for them.

However, Cera was not interested in playing or anything of the like, she was only interested in letting the longneck far behind and preventing him from reaching her. However, Littlefoot seemed to really be determined. IN that moment, he breathed in and out slowly a few times, as if he was resting, even thought he was in the middle of running.

In that moment, Littlefoot sprinted to run into a burst of speed, and he made a few quick turns, and he moved his body to the sides and made a few turns, into the bush, and into the rock, and he made a jump. He gave a mortal flip in the middle of the air and he landed with all of his four paws into the side of the tree and made another jump, landing in the middle of the way that Cera was running, and she immediately halted, looking at him with wide eyes of surprise and shock.

Man! When did Littlefoot learned to do that!? Was it some of his magic that he learned from the Order? Cera was pretty sure that it was, for there was no way that a normal longneck would be able to actually do what Littlefoot just did, even if he was young and light like Littlefoot was, longnecks didn't did that kind of thing normally, and Cera knew it pretty well.

"Cera, what is going on?" Littlefoot asked as he was now in front of the threehorn girl, and looking at her wide eyes. "Cera, why were you running from me?" He insisted, and Cera seemed to finally be able to snap out of that and talk.

"L-leave me alone!" She said, trying to go past Littlefoot, but the longneck insisted in staying in her way, blocking her passage to leave him away from her. The longneck seemed to be determined to not let Cera simply walk away while he was trying to talk to her.

"Cera, what is going on?" He said as he blocked her path. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Because I don't want to talk to you!" Cera said without even thinking, and she now just stared at Littlefoot's face with a mean glare, while the longneck looked back at her.

"It is about your father?" He asked, and Cera let out a snort as she spoke.

"It is about  _everything_!" She nearly shouted at the heavens as she looked at the longneck, who looked back at her as she started to vent what had been stuck in her throat for a while now. "Since you came back you brought these strange dinosaurs who we barely know about and with whom you spend a lot of time with. It wouldn't be that bad if, in the same day you came, we hadn't been attacked by someone who wanted to destroy our valley!"

Littlefoot frowned as he said that. Please, not her too.

"You are blaming us on this?" he asked her, his face a mix of seriousness and hurt, as he didn't liked one of his own friends to think something of the like. "You are saying that we are to blame for the Great Valley being in danger?"

"I don't know. You are?" She asked him, looking at him dead in the eye, and Littlefoot was quick to answer.

"No!"

"Then why are you with so much secret?" Cera asked almost accusingly as she looked at his face, and she continued. "Why are you keeping something for yourselves instead of being honest with us? Why are you all into that and are refusing to tell us something that could help us?"

Littlefoot only looked at her as he let her vent her anger as she continued to look at him, and continue with it Cera did. "You are hiding things from us since day one! First you said that you didn't know who was doing it or what it wanted, and then, Surprise! You know who it is and know exactly what it wants! You refuse to tell us what is going on and you keep us out of it, as if it was a information that we should not have!"

Cera sounded really mad when she was speaking it. She sounded upset and also… a little hurt?

"And you are doing it with them!" Cera said, as she looked at the longneck, who only looked back at her, and she continued. "You are keeping secrets from everyone! From the other residents of the Great Valley! From your grandparents! From your friends!" She said at him, screaming right in his face, "It is like the episode with the sweet flowers and the tinysaurs all over again, but now it is a hundred times worse, because now it involves the safety of the Great Valley!"

Littlefoot remained silent, as he knew that anything he said would probably be taken for the worse, and indeed, Littlefoot was feeling like he had nothing to say in the matter, for he felt, very deep inside at him, that it was like Cera was right.

"Littlefoot, you have been our friend for a long time, but I cannot accept that you are treating your own friends as if they were complete strangers! As if these guys and this Order, with their magic and all of that stuff, was more important than all that we have been through together in the past!"

"It is not like that!" Littlefoot finally said, raising his voice in his own defense, as he looked back at Cera. "You are all important to me! You, the others, my grandparents and everyone who lives in Great Valley is important to me!" Littlefoot sounded more honest than anything that he ever said before in his life as he spoke so, and he continued. "All I had in mind is your safety and to make sure that you are all okay. That is what  _the Order_  has in mind! We all worry about you and we all want to make sure that you are safe!"

"Still you don't trust us!" Cera shouted back at him, and Littlefoot was quickly to correct her.

"Of course I do!" He looked at Cera in the eye as he spoke so. "OI trust in you all as much as I trust in Terry and the others!"

"Then why don't you tell us what is going on!?" She screamed at him, making him go silent. "If you really trust in us so much them why don't you just tell us right now what is this and what is it all about? Tell us who is attacking the Valley and what he wants!" She demanded from him, but he only looked back at her in silence.

He looked at her with a while, with eyes full of what seemed to be some deep guilty. For a moment, Cera even thought that he was actually going to get to talk, but instead, she got her hopes frustrated as he looked away, and he simply said in a low voice.

"I can't… I just can't… It is too risky."

That hurt her.

Cera didn't wanted to let it show, but that hurt her more than any other thing would possibly be able to. Because it only confirmed what she was afraid and that now was somehow turning truth right before her eyes:

Littlefoot didn't trusted her. He didn't trusted  _them_.

Be it be the influence of these strange dinosaurs or by his own opinion, Littlefoot no longer trusted them like he used too, and that hurt her in a way that any physical wound would not be able to.

Cera simply looked at him for a few moments, and after a while she snorted, and she said, "So be it." She started to walk away, as she said, "Don't you ever talk to me again."

"Cera…" Littlefoot tried to call for her, but she only answered with a rude, "Stay away from me!" And she started to run away from him, leaving Littlefoot behind to call out her name, but she didn't answered or even turned her head to look at him. And it was not only because she didn't wanted to look at him again, it was because she didn't wanted him to see the tears that were threatening to come out of her eyes as she run. She was more hurt than she had ever felt before in her life.

* * *

Littlefoot could only watch as one of his oldest friends walked away from him, seeming to be angrier to him than she had been in a very long time, since they met each other, actually, and he could do nothing about it.

Sure, he could follow her, but he was pretty sure that if he tried to force a conversation or anything of the like he would most likely make things worse than they already were, and that was a thing that Littlefoot didn't wanted. He could only watch as Cera ran away from him, and as she walked, Littlefoot felt that they were getting more distant from each other, and it was not only physically. He could only let out lower his head in silence as Cera got farther from him, and as she got out of sight, a rustling sound came from behind Littlefoot.

The longneck didn't even looked to know that it was someone familiar to him. Nettle stepped out of the bushes, breathing slightly faster and heavier than normal as she tried to catch her breath from having been following the longneck like that. "Littlefoot." She said between pants, and almost wheezes. "You… cannot… get to… run… like… that… I'm… not… used… to… run… so fast…"

She was still trying to recover her breath as she supported her body in her legs, using her hands as an extra support to make sure that she was not going to slip into the ground and lay flat in her belly. She took a few moments to catch her breath again and she noticed that Littlefoot had not answered her yet.

"Littlefoot, did you heard me?" She said, still panting slightly, but only then, she realized that Littlefoot didn't looked well. He didn't looked hurt, but he looked as if he was really, really sad.

The longneck had his face turned down and he looked as if he was deeply sad at something, and seeing the longneck like that, seeing her friend like that, was making Nettle immediately forget about her tiredness and take it replaced with worry for the well being of her friend.

"Littlefoot?" She asked him, "What is wrong?"

The longneck took a few moments, before he raised his head again to look at Nettle, and she saw all the sadness that there was in his face, and then the longneck sighed, and he looked up, at the position in which the Bright Circle was now, and he said, "It is almost time for the morning training and the patrol." He turned around, and he looked at Nettle, and he said, "I'll explain in the way." And he didn't even waited for an answer to start to go, but Nettle didn't stopped him or made him look at her as she walked with him, and in the way, Littlefoot explained what had happened with Cera and all that had went on.

"Man, why is she so mean?" Nettle asked, and Littlefoot said, "She doesn't means harm, she is just angry that I'm keeping secrets." He looked down again, and he sighed, "and I guess that, somehow, I agree with her."

Nettle looked at him, and she felt the urge to say something to cheer him up, however, she could not think of anything to say that would make the longneck feel happier. So, she just lowered her head as she walked by his side in silence, and they walked in direction to the place in which they were supposed to meet with the others in order to have the training.

* * *

Over the past few days, the Order had already set a permanent spot to serve as their "training ground" as they called it. And it was a spot that had already grew to be know as it by nearly most dinosaurs into the Great Valley, and they also knew that it was the kind of place in which they should not wonder without warning.

That place was now broken around due to the great amount of damage that was made in there by the "training" of the Order. Their training involved not only physical combat, but also some use of their magic in the art of combat, and so, the dinosaurs grew used to see that place more damaged each time that the Order had their daily trainings, and also, the sounds of roars, fight, and even the explosions and other strange sounds that could be heard from the distance, coming from that place, were now barely even scaring people anymore.

The Order claimed that they had several spots like that back in their Valley, and it made the residents wonder just how that Valley looked if this kind of thing happened in there every day and in such a large scale (once the Order said that they had several members, and most of them participated into the training).

However, even with it being the kind of place in which there could have several pain if you stepped in there in the wrong time, it was also a place in which the dinosaurs usually gathered in the times of the trainings, in order to watch as they went on.

The trainings, despite being the kind of thing that looked dangerous, and also could at some moments be brutal, they also proved to be an amazing shown of magical arts, that was actually very eye-catchy. This made the dinosaurs want to stop and look at it as their magic was performed and used in combat like that, and also, they saw the way the dinosaurs o the Order were good in fighting, even without the use of their magic, and they found it rather interesting.

Of course, the story soon started to go mouth to mouth, and people started to get more and more interested, and they were all gathering in there in order to watch and see what would come. Some of them even started to make bets on which dinosaur would win into the training. They would bet things like: the flyers said they would bring them the best leaves on top of the trees, or the swimmers would grab them some of the wet green food that grew into the bottom of the lakes, and things of the like, and these bets were starting to take form over it, as the dinosaurs grew used to this kind of event and they also got to know better the "contestants" of the training sessions.

Terry would simply chuckle at them, and he would say something like, "just like home" as he and his students would give them a good show to enjoy while they minded their own business.

And today was absolutely no exception.

Littlefoot and Nettle both arrived quite late, for the other three dinosaurs were already in place, with Uri sitting by Swift's side and Terry walking from side to side. At some distance, a small crowd of dinosaurs was already gathered in there, and they were looking quite anxious to see who would come up with the fight first.

"About time you two arrived." Swift said to the longneck and horned head that had just arrived in there, both slightly in a hurry, and Swift looking more worried than Littlefoot. "We were starting to wonder if you two had gotten lost."

His tone was around the same from always, with just the slightest hint of something that Littlefoot could recognize as a dry humor that only Swift had. The longneck would have smiled at him, but Nettle, who didn't realized that subtle things, was quickly apologizing, and she gave him no chance to speak anything else, and when she was done, she put her hands folded behind her back as the others looked at her.

Terry chuckled a little, and he said, "Nettle, you really get worried too much about things." He spoke at her, making she look up at him. Terry sighed, and he smiled again, "Well, since everyone is here, and since you are all so willing to train." He looked at them and he spoke, "We will make the tag duo training."

Nettle's eyes widened as she covered her mouth. Littlefoot smiled at this. Uri actually gave a small cry of joy, while Swift simply rolled his eyes. All of the young dinosaurs knew what was the tag duo training, but the dinosaurs who were watching them were actually hearing about it for the first time.

They already saw the kind of training they did, and usually it was one fighting the other, or doing some kind of challenge that the big bonecrusher sharptooth came up with for them. However, this "tag duo" thing was a thing that was new for them. It had something to do with a tag game?

But soon, they would be seeing that it was somewhat more than just that.

"Littlefoot, you partner with Nettle. Uri, you make a duo with Swift." Terry said, opening space for them. Uri practically let out a small howl of excitement, and Swift simply rolled his eyes as he got up and got lined up. Littlefoot also looked somewhat happy and confident for that. Nettle, however, looked almost mortified.

She was giving a single step backwards, when Littlefoot stopped her. "Nettle, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" Nettle nearly shrieked, and she was about to back around and walk away. But Littlefoot continued to stand in her way. "Littlefoot, it is Uri and Swift!" She said to the longneck, looking over her shoulders at the two dinosaurs who were looking back at her. Uri seemed to be dancing in place and Swift had his arms crossed, with his eternal grumpy expression in his face. "I have no chance against them! I barely have chance against one of them! And I can't use my magic in them! I don't want to make them sick with my poison!"

"You can use it with the weaker version." Littlefoot offered to her. "Like the one that only makes dizziness and that causes paralyze, you are very good in it."

"But then I'll have no chance!" Nettle gave as an answer, "I have no chance against them! They will maul me!"

"Nettle." Littlefoot said gently, making her look in his face. "I know that you are nervous, and that you are not used to fight. But you are good in your own ways." He spoke to her, and she looked back at him, as he continued. "Also, you will not be fighting alone. I'll be by your side, and you know that I won't let you down."

She looked at him, and she gave him a simply nod, and he said, "Okay, lets now go to this training. Stay close to me and do the best you can, and we will sure make it right, even if we don't win, alright?"

After a moment, she nodded at Littlefoot, with a smile in her face now, what showed that she was feeling better. That, in turn made Littlefoot smile, and soon, they both were lining up, and facing Swift and Uri, who looked back at them.

The residents of the Great Valley looked at them as they faced each other in pairs, and soon, Terry was speaking. "Remember the main objective of this training. Rule 8#."

All the young dinosaurs answered aloud, saying: "Always work as a team!" to make it clear that they remembered perfectly the lessons that the big bonecrusher sharptooth had taught them, and this pleased Terry, who smiled at them.

As soon as they said that, the ones who were watching understood the objective of this kind of training.

"They are going to fight in teams!"

"The horned head and the longneck against the sailback and the threehorn!"

"Now that is new!"

"I bet that the sailback and threehorn will win!"

"I bet on the longneck and the horned head will win!"

The residents now were making their bets, and Swift looked at them, and he said to Uri. "Seems like they are ready to see quite a show."

Uri smirked at him, and he said, "Then lets give them a show!" He said as he planted his feet into the ground and immediately, his shadow seemed to be coming up from the ground and enveloping his body, showing that he was charging up the power of his magic.

Swift was not very much into this kind of behavior, neither from Uri and neither from the residents, as he thought it to be somewhat immature. However, he knew that he should not bother too much of it, as long as the training was made and it was taken seriously for most of the presents. So, the sailback looked back at them and he flicked his claws, creating small balls of the purest white flames into his claws.

Littlefoot looked at them, and he got ready, his amulet shining. Nettle, by seeing these two getting ready to strike, gave a single step back. Littlefoot noticed, and he said to her. "Stay close to me." She looked at him, and she saw his smiling face, and he said to her, "It is all going to be alright if we work as a team."

She saw truth in his words, and she smiled at him. This seemed to make her gain courage, as she took a deep breath, and immediately, she moved her arms, and immediately, they started to fume some purplish-green colored smoke, and she was standing in there by Littlefoot's side, with the best fierce look that she could muster as she looked at the two dinosaurs.

"The battle will go on one member of one team can't continue anymore and declares defeat." Terry said aloud, as he looked at the two teams, both seeming to be willing and ready to battle, and soon, he was stepping aside, and he said aloud, "Begin!"

Immediately, Uri and Swift sprint into running in direction to the two dinosaurs. Nettle was slightly scared as she saw this, but Littlefoot immediately said, "I'll take on Swift, you may handle Uri!" He barely waited for the answer, as Nettle immediately knew what he meant.

Swift was easily the one that could more easily get carried away into the trainings, and so, he was the more likely of hurting her into the fight if it got too out of hand. However, she didn't felt as calm as she should be feeling, for she knew that Uri was skilled in fight, and that she didn't had as much experience. Actually, she even rarely got into a real fight before, and that was something that was almost an alien concept to her, and she was really apprehensive into getting a direct fight with anyone, even it being with her friends.

However, she could do nothing but comply, as Littlefoot now ran in direction to Swift, who had his claws in ignition, and he was crying out, " ** _Hellfire Claws!_** " As they ignited in pure white flames, and Littlefoot didn't stayed behind, with his body being enveloped in light.

" ** _Bright Power!_** " Littlefoot cried out as his body was enveloped in light, and immediately, he also screamed, " ** _Light Sharp Horn!_** " And immediately, he materialized his horn made of like, which for nowadays viewers would look more a blade than an actual horn, and he immediately clashed with Swift's claws.

The air itself seemed to bend as the claws of fire and the horn of light clashed, and sparks flew as the two dinosaurs now were clashing with their strength. Littlefoot knew of the previous clashes that he had with Swift into the previous trainings that he would need to make true effort if he wanted to keep up with him, for the sailback was surely not a starter into this kind of thing and he was also a very powerful dinosaur, and so, Littlefoot could not go easy. He was using his Bright Power to enhance his physical abilities and also using the Light Sharp Horn. The two magic powers combined complimented each other, and they made sure that Littlefoot could be able to clash with the power of the Hellfire Claws, for a while at least.

As they clashed, Uri came soon after, and seeing that Swift and Littlefoot had already chosen each other to be dancing partners, he decided to pick for himself the one who was left in this story. He felt kind of sorry for having to clash with Nettle, once she was not used to have direct fights, however, he knew that it was not her area and that she was not the best of fighters, and he also wondered if he should talk to Terry to leave her out of this. However, he knew better than to make Terry annoyed by asking this kind of thing, not to mention Swift, who was probably going to want to bite off a piece of his tail if he ended the training only because he felt sorry for the enemy.

However, even though she was not the kind who was not exactly keen into getting into direct fights, Uri could notice that Nettle didn't looked as scared or nervous as she usually was about these kinds of things. Actually, she almost seemed to be confident, but not very much, as she looked at the threehorn charging at her.

Uri was with his shadows now cumulating at his horns, and they were growing, and they were taking a mean-looking appearance as they seemed almost to be turning jagged, just as if they were covered into thorns of pure shadows.

" ** _Night Horns!_** " He said as his horns of pure shadows became whole and ready to deliver a powerful attack. Nettle looked scared for a moment, before the poison cumulated took the shape of her own claws, and she cried out in return. " ** _Poison Claw Swipe!_** "

Immediately, she made a slashing move with her claws, which hit the horns of Uri, at the same time that she jumped out of the way, and the threehorn dashed past her and he had to reel his paws into the ground to stop his charge. Uri looked back at her, and he saw her hands, fuming poison as it now had claws made of pure poisonous substance.

She was breathing heavily, a she looked back at Uri with wide eyes, as if she could not believe that she had actually managed to do that. Uri also looked very slightly surprised, as he didn't thought that Nettle was able to do a move like that. Still, he knew that the training hadn't ended yet.

He turned around, and he looked ahead, at her. He could notice the poison dripping from his horns and unto the ground, liberating a little amount of toxic fumes. Uri knew well some variations of Nettle's poisons, even though not all of them. He was glad that this, at least, didn't seemed to be one of the deadly variations, as he was to expect from Nettle, and also, he was glad that it didn't looked like the ones that could cause itching and also stomach problems. He still had very bad memories of when he was forced to swallow one of these, and it still made his guts hurt when he remembered.

However, the fact that she was using any kind of poison at all was telling him that she was taking this battle seriously, and that was a reason for him to worry and also be amazed. Uri snorted, as his horns, now long, black and spiked, were ready to be used into a direct fight.

Nettle looked back at him, and after seeing how well she had done dodging the first attack, she gained some confidence. However, she was still not ready to fight Uri on a direct combat. Instead, she was choosing for a different approach.

Taking a deep breath, she cumulated more of that poison in her hands, and then, it started to move as if it had a mind of its own. The purplish-green liquid-like substance moved on its own, coming out of her hands and forming what seemed to be long and fuming tendrils, to which Uri looked with worry.

"Oh, boy…" That was all that Uri had time to say, before Nettle screamed, " ** _Double Poison Fang!_** " and immediately, the tendrils started to move, taking a very regular shape, and advancing to Uri.

The threehorn had to think fast and dive to out of the way, before the tendrils collided with the ground din the exact place in which the threehorn had been just a few seconds before. The make a crashing sound as they liberated droplets of poison and toxic fumes from them, and they only remained there for a second, before moving away, and they seemed to not have been affected by the crash. It was almost as if the tendrils, or whatever they were, were solid and not made out of liquid from the poisonous powers of Nettle.

The threehorn didn't had time to think about it, as the tendrils immediately, even though it was hesitantly, moved in his direction. Uri had to use his horns to parry the attack from one tendril, but right after, he had to move back to avoid the other one from hitting him. While this, the horned head was far away, and she was looking at him as she was controlling the tendrils to attack him.

Most of her hesitation had vanished, but still, she was being careful with what she was doing, as if to make sure that her poison or even the tendrils themselves would not hurt Uri very much. Nettle was far too good to actually want to do bad to someone, even if it was caught up in the moment of a training like that.

Still, she was giving Uri some difficulty, as he was forced to parry and dodge both of the tendrils coming at him, and Nettle was not close enough for him to fight back, and he was careful for the droplets of poison and the fumes not get him, for he knew that a single drop could help poisons make effect, and also, the fumes liberated by a poison could be sometimes as dangerous as the poison itself.

He was having a hard time as the tendrils moved almost like poisonous snakes ready to give him a bite. All that Uri could do was use his horns to parry and dodge. The covering of darkness into the horns avoided the poison to have direct contact with his horns, and so, they protected him from the effects of what would be some poisoning. Still, the protection was not in the rest of his body, so the threehorn was forced to constantly move and duck in order to not have the tendrils to touch his skin and possibly cause him a poisoning.

Away from there, Littlefoot and Swift were both clashing too, but in a direct combat. Swift swiped his flaming claws, hot enough to make nearby plants catch on fire, while Littlefoot parried the attacks with his horn made of light.

Sparks flew everywhere as these two collided their claws and horn, the power nearly emanating from them as the clash of their attacks made the air itself bent around them, both by the heat as for the sheer power that they were liberating from this.

The dinosaurs who were watching saw that amazed, both the two young dinosaurs clashing their power and making the air itself bent, as for the horned head that attacked the threehorn with her tendrils of power, and the threehorn was blocking it with his horns of pure shadows. They were utterly amazed by this, and they were watching the show with a growing interest as the fight moved on. They were still making bets in who they thought who would win, and they seemed eager to find out who was going to win that thing in the end. Firstly they had bet into the sailback and the threehorn, but now, they were definitely not sure of who could actually win, for they were showing that they all were very strong.

They could only watch and wait to see who was going to come out victorious form that clash, and they were all almost standing in the tip of their claws to get a good look of the fight, as they were standing into a safe distance from the action.

Terry only remained in there as he watched the students do their thing, and he was glad to what he was seeing. He was glad to see that Swift was as strong as he had always been. The sailback was a very skilled fighter, and the few years that he trained really helped him become a talented student, and there were very few people on his age who were so strong and so skilled in the use of magic for normal fight. He was truly a very strong dinosaur who made the Order of Leaf and Claw being proud for having him in their ranks.

Littlefoot was also a good example of a student. Terry knew that Littlefoot had a lot of potential, maybe even more than any other dinosaur his age was supposed to. The young longneck had been a quick learner since he had joined the Order, and he had quickly became a respectable foe and a very strong warrior. It was shown by the way that Littlefoot was now learning to use two different kinds of magic at the same time, and he was showing a great control over both of them, and this just showed how quick the young longneck was evolving when it came to his magic. He was now even to keep up with Swift! The sailback better watch his back, for Littlefoot had a lot of potential, and anyone could see that.

Uri was not behind. The threehorn had a lot of potential too, and even though he didn't showed the same level of power that Swift or Littlefoot showed, he was still amazing in his own ways. The threehorn had a lot of skill, and he was very good into improvising and also into creating new techniques with his magic. That was perfectly shown by these new horns made out of darkness that he created. Very few dinosaurs were able to show that level of skill in doing something like that and into making new techniques. It was the kind of thing that demanded effort and concentration, not to mention the time that you needed to practice with it and being able to refine and to make sure that the technique was working and was perfect for when you needed to use it for real. The threehorn was almost a natural at this, and this was shown by the way that he was able to always come up with new techniques, and this only showed that he indeed trained a lot, and that he was dedicated to what he did. Terry admired him for that.

Finally, there was Nettle. The horned head was the shy one, and everyone back in the Valley of Leaf and claw knew that she was not the kind to go into a direct fight, for she was not the strongest of dinosaurs around. However, she still had skills to fight, even though she rarely showed that. That was being proved right them and there, as she was able to keep up with Uri, even if she was not fighting him directly. Nettle had her own abilities and her own talents, and Terry's years of experience told him that her potential was just as great as of any other of his students, and that all that she needed was a little encouragement so she could unlock that potential and show to everyone that she was indeed very strong.

As Terry looked at them, he could not help but feel his chest swelling with pride as he watched these four dinosaurs showing just how much they had grown under his care and teaching. They were all becoming so strong.

However, Terry could not avoid getting worried, as he thought about all the dangers that they faced and were yet going to face. They needed to be strong for that. Terry knew it very well, even more now, that the situation was so dire. Terry knew that their enemy didn't showed mercy to anyone who stood in his way, and that he would not think twice before killing everyone in the Valley to get his claws into…

Terry groaned as he shook his head. He didn't wanted to think in the worst case scenario, however, he knew that he had to think about that, if they wanted to have a chance. He needed to be ready for the worse in case it arrived, and so, he needed to prepare his students to the greater challenges that were going to come.

There were already similar cases in the past, when they thought they had found, but in the end, it was not what they thought. However, this time it seemed to be for real, and the attacks only confirmed it.

If this time it was real, then they needed to be ready, for the things were only going to get worse…

The young dinosaurs continued to train, limiting themselves to use all that they had learned into the time they were in the Order to fight with the best of their abilities. They all were doing an amazing job, and the dinosaurs of the Great Valley who were watching were even cheering for them. Some cheered for Littlefoot and Nettle, while others cheered for Swift and Uri.

However, the young dinosaurs were barely paying attention in them, as they were far too focused into the fight they were having. Uri was doing some effort to use his horns of darkness to parry and dodge the tentacles of pure poison that Nettle created, while Littlefoot was into a strong fight which was neck with neck… I mean, neck with claws with Swift. Neither of the sides was considering giving up. Well, maybe Nettle, for she really was not used to fights, and she was really apprehensive of using her abilities at their full extent, even if she knew that the poison that she chosen was not a lethal kind.

They were all too focused into their individual fights, however, they had not forgot about what Terry had taught them, and what was the true point of this whole training.

Littlefoot was sparring with Swift, and the longneck soon gave a big leap and he rolled into the ground, as he was now standing next to Nettle, and back to back with her as she continued to focus her tentacles into Uri. Swift wasted no time into running in their direction.

"Nettle, follow my lead!" Littlefoot said, and the horned head was confused for a moment, and she was also scared when she saw Swift running in their direction with the flaming claws, however, she trusted Littlefoot, and she was pretty sure that he had a plan. So, she decided to follow his lead.

"The ground beneath Swift's feet!" Littlefoot said, and Nettle, as if on a cue, understood what he meant. One of the tentacles she created was still focused into Uri, the other, however, was moving in a different direction now, darting into he ground just like a snake, and moving in direction to Swift.

Of course the sailback saw it coming, and he only needed to step aside. The problem was that the stream of poison was controlled by Nettle, so, it moved according to her will, and it made it as dangerous as a snake. The tentacle danced into the ground as Swift was forced to move from one side to the other to avoid that poisonous threat to touch his skin, for he knew that it was all that needed to be affected by that poison.

As the consequence of having to dodge the thing into the ground, Swift was starting to lose speed, until one moment, to avoid the tendril of venom to grab his ankle, Swift had to give a jump backwards, and that was the opening that Littlefoot was waiting for.

" ** _Light Roar!_** " The longneck cried out, as his mouth opened as a stream of light flew in direction to the sailback.

Seeing the incoming attack, Swift immediately put both his claws in front of his body, and the extreme heat and fire that they were emanating countered the power of the sheer light, and so, Swift was propelled several feet backwards, and he landed back into his feet. His expression was still as calm, but fierce, as it was possible to be, as he looked at the two dinosaurs.

The problem was that, by focusing into two areas at the same time, Nettle ended up losing focus in one of them. In this case, she lost focus in Uri, as the threehorn was finally able to counter and push back the tendril that was threatening him, and he now was charging in direction to Nettle.

The horned head let out a small cry as she saw the threehorn charging at her, but immediately, Littlefoot turned his head and he slammed a paw into the ground, crying out. " ** _Bright Wall!_** "

Immediately, a wall of radiant light sprouted from the ground in front of Nettle, and Uri collided with it with a booming sound as the shadows and light collided. If his horns were not strengthened by the shadows, they would have most likely been broken off by the force of the impact.

Uri stepped back, slightly dizzy by the impact, but he was quickly able to shake it off. However, his horns made of darkness decomposed as did the wall of light. Nettle was slightly surprised, and she looked back, to see Littlefoot's smiling face, as the longneck said. "I got you covered."

She looked at him, and she smiled back as she nodded, and soon, their attention was back into the fight.

Now, they were being circled by Swift and Uri, who were acting like a duo of fast biters getting ready to pounce upon the prey. Nettle was still scared, but she kept her fighting pose, and so did Littlefoot, who didn't showed even the slightest hint of fear in his pose or face.

The crowd at the distance was practically holding their breath as they were waiting to see what would happen now, and which team would come out victorious from that brawl…

Suddenly, everyone's attention was cut short when a loud sound of unnatural roaring was heard from the distance, making everyone raise their heads and look into the direction from which the sound came from. All of them immediately recognized that sound, and they all knew what that meant.

"Hollow…" Swift said, slightly snarling, while Nettle now looked even more scared, and Uri also looked worried.

"And there is more than one." Said the threehorn as he heard the sound of more than one single cry of a Hollow. However, as soon as he said that, another sound echoed, and that was definitely not a Hollow.

The sound was a scream, and it seemed to be one of horror. It was of a dinosaur, and it was of a female. Also, by the voice it definitely did not belonged to an adult. The dinosaurs immediately stood into attention, as they knew that it could only mean that the Hollows were attacking someone.

Littlefoot, however, stood as there was a look of pure horror in his face, as he could recognize perfectly the voice which just screamed:

"Cera!"

 

 

 


	11. Dark Intents

_Earlier_

Cera was into very deep thoughts as she roamed around the Great Valley without a clear destiny in mind. She had too much to think about, after she learned that her own best friend of so long ago didn't trusted her anymore.

Littlefoot had practically told her in her face that he could not tell her what was going on, as if he could not trust her enough with something like that.

This, of course, lead her to all kinds of conclusions, some silly, some serious, and some of them simply scary. However, one thing was certain: Cera was feeling very bad with it.

Be it because of the influence of these dinosaurs, or simply because he somehow changed, Littlefoot simply seemed that he didn't trusted his old friends anymore, and that was enough for Cera to get deeply worried. Because, if Littlefoot didn't trusted them enough to tell them the whole truth, then how were they going to be able to trust him?

They learned long ago that keeping secrets and lying could endanger friendships, and only bring problems. Then why was Littlefoot doing it again? What could be so serious that he somehow was convinced that not even his friends could hear from him what was going on?

What could be so serious that Littlefoot was forced to keep it a secret even from the ones who he trusted most?

It is, if Littlefoot still trusted them after all…

The idea of Littlefoot not being her friend anymore made Cera fell horrible. It made her feel sad, neglected, and depressed that Littlefoot might not be her friend anymore, after all, it is very hard to be truly a friend of anyone if you were unable to trust this person with virtually anything that was in your mind.

It could not be friendship without true trust.

Cera barely knew where she was going as she simply walked with her head down in sadness, and she didn't noticed how close she was getting of the Great Wall, and neither how late it was getting. She was very far from her home, and if she did not answered when her father called her she would probably be in problem, but that was the last thing in her mind. She was just too sad over this subject of Littlefoot and the dinosaurs of the "Order" to be able to worry about anything else.

She only realized where she was and what time it was when she stopped, and still, she barely even cared. Actually, she was happy that she was in a place away from everyone, for she needed that to keep to herself and to think about all that was happening, even if that would make her feel even worse.

She also was not sure about how she felt about all of that. She knew that she was sad and somehow disappointed with Littlefoot, but she was not angry. Well… okay, she was angry, but she was not as angry as she thought that she should be, and she was much more sad than angry. She once more wondered what would be the reason for that…

Still, thinking about it only made her feel worse, as it only ensured her that what Littlefoot was doing was something that friends should not do, and that only made her feel more like the longneck who she knew for so long was no longer her friend. She could only curl over herself and close her eyes as she tried her best to think of anything that could cheer her up, but she was failing miserably.

As she was in there to herself, she had completely failed to notice the small bubbles of what seemed to be pure blackness floating behind her, coming from a few openings into the Great Wall. They started to bubble together and to gather as if they were a big mass of darkness, and they started to change a strange, and yet very familiar shape, which seemed somehow like a head, with eyes and mouth. The head looked at the threehorn, with very smart eyes that it was not supposed to have, and a smirk appeared in its forming maw.

"Ohhh, look at that." It said with a mean and distorted voice, which finally mad eCera snap from her thoughts and quickly turn around, looking at the mass of blackness forming, which now was starting to form arms and a body as it moved to out of the ground.

"A poor young kid, all alone and sad, abandoned by everyone." It said as it moved to out of the ground, and now, the legs and tail had just formed themselves, and it looked down at her, as Cera looked in horror to what had just came out of the ground.

It was tall and it had the size of an adult tubehead. It had a pair of arms that where long and strong, and they ended into hands which had long claws in them, and looked like they could cut flesh rather easily. The legs seemed like the ones of a fastbiter, and they looked as if they were made to run very fast, and the tail was long and it seemed that it was made to help keep balance during fast races and to help make curves and turns into enclosed spaces during the race. The head was like the one of a fastbiter, except that it had two pairs of horns in it. Overall, the creature had an appearance that made it look dangerous, as the blackness faded and revealed a jet-black color, save for what seemed to be splashes of crimson in the hands, paws, and around the mouth, what seemed horribly to be blood sprawled into the appendages.

Cera didn't even needed to think to know what it was, and right then, she felt fear coursing through her body as if someone had put cold water all inside of her body, as she looked at the creature in front of her, who looked at her with smart eyes and a wicked smile.

"Such a poor little thing, all alone and vulnerable, without anyone around to help if she is attacked by a big and mean creature." He spoke, approaching Cera with slow steps, as Cera took one step back with each step that the thing took towards her. As so, more shadows bubbled into the ground behind the creature, and others, identical to it, slowly sprouted to life, snarling and hissing, as the creature continued to smile at her.

"That is exactly all I could ask for."

As it said it, the creature snarled at her, and immediately, Cera let out a loud cry, as she turned around and started to run, with the creatures hot in her tail, their leader letting out a sound that seemed a lot like a sharptooth's maniacal laughter.

* * *

"Cera!" Littlefoot cried out as he could recognize the sound of Cera's scream. It was a sound that he would be able to recognize anywhere. His horn of light immediately dematerialized, as he had lost all of his focus of battle at the idea of one of his friends falling victims to the Hollows.

He didn't paid attention to any of his fellow members, and he simply sprinted into running in the direction from which the sound had come. He slightly stunned the other members, who looked at him as he went off, barely looking at them as he simply ran off.

"Littlefoot, wait!" Nettle cried out, and Terry immediately said, "We need to go now!" as he too ran after Littlefoot, and the others took only a second to go right after them, they all knew that, if the Hollows were attacking again, it meant that  _he_  was planning something, and that was surely a bad thing. Not to mention a poor helpless victim that didn't deserved to end up ripped into pieces by these Hollows.

As they ran, some of the residents who were watching got scared by the sound and the scream, and they started to disperse and to run, running into the opposite direction to which the members of the Order were heading, which would be: the most possible distance from the place the roaring was coming from.

However, one of them was not running, and it was a very familiar dinosaur. One that utterly mistrusted the Order, but still, got interested in them as he sneaked to be able to get into the places and watch their training from hiding. To "learn their secrets and find out what were they hiding, as he would speak to himself and to anyone who could possibly catch him in the act.

As soon as he heard the sounds of the Hollows, he stood into attention, but, as soon as he heard that scream it seemed as if his whole body had frozen in place, and even his own mind freeze, and he took a while to recover and say. "CERA!"

Mr. Threehorn immediately jumped out of the place in which he was hiding, and now he was heading into the same direction to which the members of the order were heading. Now these dinosaurs and their secrets were the last thing in his mind, as he was running in direction to the place in which his daughter was. All he knew, all he could think about, was that his daughter was in danger and she needed him.

* * *

Cera was panting as she ran, but it seemed to do her little good. The creatures that were chasing her seemed to be made specifically for running, once they approached her rather easily, and were able to run after her with great efficiency. They could really get her if they really wanted.

However, they seemed more interested in playing with her, or doing something of the like. They leaped and ran near her, and she continued to run, and then, when they were about to reach her, they simply stopped and let her take the advantage again, before they ran after her once more, as if it was a big game of tag, and they wanted to see how much she could run before she eventually grew tired enough for them to catch her easily.

Cera was resilient, that was for sure, once she would not allow these freaks to get her easily. She continued to run as fast as she could, even though she knew that they could get her if they wanted to, and it seemed to be a game. Even though only one of the creatures, the one who first talked to her as soon as it appeared, seemed to feel any short of emotion with what was happening, and it was easy to notice because he was laughing and tainting her as they were going after.

"Run, run, little threehorn!" He said as he laughed hard in sharptooth style, and the Hollows continued to go after her as she continued to run, and they didn't even seemed to be really making any kind of true effort to it. Cera knew deep inside that, if they truly wanted to get her, she would have absolutely no chance of running away, and maybe that was why they were playing this strange and very cruel game with her, to see how long it would take until she broke and realized that there was no way of saving her own life from her pursuers.

She continued to run, and she noticed that they once more were not following her. She looked back, to see all of them standing back and looking at her as she ran. She wondered for how long they were going to keep into that game, and she didn't looked ahead, and so, it was no surprise that she bumped at something.

She bounced back and landed into the ground, into a sitting position. She shook her head, as she knew that she had bumped into something that was not a tree nor a stone. She looked up, and she gasped as her blood run cold. Ahead of her, was another of the creatures, which looked down at her with a very wide and wicked smirk, that showed every single of its teeth, each one looking able to rip out her flesh with little to no effort.

"Boo!" He said to hear, nearing his face form her, and Cera cried out as she landed in her back and scrambled away from he, only for bumping again into another of the creatures, this one with a very empty, but very threatening, expression in its face, as it and its fellows started to circle Cera, cutting out all her possible paths of escape.

All the while, the one who scared her was laughing loud and hard, as if he had heard the best joke ever. Cera took only one moment to realize that he was laughing at her expense. She would have become seriously angry at him if she didn't knew that her life was at stake in there.

The creature continued to laugh, and finally let out a sigh as he looked down at her, and he said, in its distorted and very scary voice. "A little warm up like the before a meal is always good to open your appetite." He looked down at her, as she stared back at him. "Oh, how I wish I could be there in person to have this meal."

Cera looked up at him and, due to what she had heard and seen in the past days, she didn't needed to think much to figure out what was going on.

"It is you!" She said, "You are the one who is sending these monsters to the Great Valley!"

The creature looked at her, and it chuckled before saying, "You are way too smart for a threehorn." He kneeled to look into her face, and Cera seemed as if she was ready to fight. The one using the Hollow to talk and move wouldn't expect less from a threehorn. "I guess I understand why I heard so much about you."

This surprised Cera, as she looked at him, and he chuckled. "Surprised? You shouldn't be." He said, as he got up and he looked down at her, entwining his claws as he seemed to almost take pleasure into saying this kind of thing. "After all that you and your six friends have been doing, it would be strange if you hadn't actually became famous. After all, it is a very good story the one of kids that traveled to the Valley of Mists to find out the legendary Night Flower? Or about the group of kids that went with their longneck friend to the Great Crater, for the moment to which the longnecks would grab the Bright Circle and push it back to its place in the sky? Well, if you haven't heard about these ones, then you surely must have heard of the kids that, more than once, fooled Red Claw and his minions and who were able to have multiple encounters with him and escaped alive."

He smiled at her, and he added, "You kids have quite some fame."

Cera wasn't sure if she should feel infatuated by this, or worried that sharpteeth out there have specifically heard about her and her friends and all that they had done together. It made her wonder how many of these sharpteeth would probably want to prove themselves by hunting and eating them.

However, the situation she got now was pretty much more worrying, as she saw herself surrounded by creatures that could very well kill her there and then, and so, she would not have any chance to worry about the future or whatsoever. She could only look up at him, as he looked down at her with those devious smile and smart eyes.

"Well, since you already know who I am… well, kind of, then you must know that I'm not sending my Hollows to your precious Valley only for fun. I have a reason to do so." He spoke, and Cera only looked back at him.

"Yeah, yeah, you are doing it because you want something here from Great Valley. I already know." She spoke, and she was able to actually feel pretty annoyed as she thought as if she was being explained something that was obvious, just like it would be done to a baby. Even with her life being seemingly in great danger, she was not going to accept begin treated like that by anyone, especially by some arrogant sharptooth.

"Indeed, little girl." He said, looking down at her, and he gently tapped a claw in the horn of her nose, "And  _you_  are going to help me get it."

"Like I would!" Cera said, shaking her head and not accepting this… whatever he actually was, to give her any kind of order. Sure, she knew that there was a chance of the creature leaving the Great Valley alone if he got what he wanted, but still, she was not to be the one who would give a sharpteeth the satisfaction of getting whatever was it he wanted. Besides, Cera had been wondering just what was it that some sharpteeth could actually want.

"Anyway, what would you want from out Valley? The only things you could want truly would be our treesweets, they are good, but you don't eat it." She said matter-of-factly to him. "There is rocks everywhere and our shiny stones are not of very usefulness out there."

He looked at her, and he sighed. "Sorry, I think I didn't quite expressed myself clearly. Maybe it is my fault, but of course, it is possible that you leaf eaters are not very bright."

Okay, now Cera really felt offended by him, however, she had no chance to voice her anger to him, once he continued to talk. "Well, it may also be fault of my lack of fully comprehension of these sounds you leaf eaters call language." He looked down at her with that same smirk, and he said, "Well, I said I wanted  _something_  from your Valley. Well, that is true, and I do what something that is in your Valley. However, a better word for that what I want would be  _someone._ "

Cera looked surprised at him, as he looked down at her, with an even wider smirk, and he concluded. "I'm after someone who is here in your Valley, and you are going to help me to get him."

Cera looked at him with a mix of emotions. For one side, she thought that it made a lot more sense that a sharptooth was after someone, for it could be much more understanding. Still, she felt suddenly worried that the sharptooth was actually hunting someone who lived in the Great Valley, and so, he could want this person, whoever it was, to be his meal, Cera had already heard of some greedy and determined sharpteeth that had made the goal of their lives to hunt down specific dinosaurs for whatever reason it could be. However, despite her surprise, Cera was completely sure of one thing: she was not going to help a sharptooth to hunt his prey. Like she would ever in her life willingly attract someone to become sharptooth's food! No! She was way better than that!

"I won't!" She said to him vehemently. "I'll not help you to have someone for dinner!"

The sharptooth/Hollow looked down at her, and he chuckled, "Yeah, as stubborn as a threehorn is expected to be." He said, and he continued, "However, you  _will_  help me, and you don't need to do anything, actually. You just have to be around and cry out for help. As soon as he sees that I have you with me, he will rush to save."

"And why that?" Cera asked, and the sharpteeth smiled so wide that it seemed that his mouth had became even bigger, and he looked down at her, approaching his head from hers', and making her slightly stumble back as he got very close, and then, he whispered something that made Cera's blood run cold. "Because you are his' friend."

As soon as he said that, someone cried out "Cera!"

Immediately, both dinosaur and Hollow turned their heads to see the approaching dinosaurs, coming right ahead of them was Littlefoot, who had a very fierce look in his face as he looked at the Hollow who was so close to Cera, and he cried out. "Stay away from her!"

The Hollow simply smirked as he saw the longneck running in their direction. "I knew it." He said, more to himself than to Cera, still, Cera heard it. "A friend does anything for another friend." And then, he barely seemed to mind Cera, as he turned his attention to the dinosaurs running in his direction, and then, the face of the Hollow contorted, and it shook its head for a while, before it focused its eyes back into the dinosaurs coming for it. However, now, the intelligence was gone from these eyes, and instead, it was only present a blind and savage rage, that was now focused to the dinosaurs.

The one who was using the Hollow to talk had cut off the connection, and now, all that was left to the Hollow was the regular: rage, bloodlust, lack of emotions of any kind, and the instincts that drove it to serve its creator and master.

Littlefoot was running straight on in direction to the Hollow that was near of Cera, and before he even went at him, the longneck opened his mouth wide and a ball of light formed.

" ** _Light Roar!_** " Littlefoot cried, shooting a beam of light that hit the Hollow head on, making it explode. Cera had to cover herself in order to protect her face form the dust that flew from the attack and from the sheer power that the exploding emanated. She didn't even needed to raise her head to know that the Hollow had been completely destroyed by that attack, and also, by the sounds she was hearing, she also didn't needed to raise her head to know that the Hollows that were surrounding her were now sprinting around and running in direction to the longneck.

Littlefoot looked over as all the Hollows were now running in his direction, and two of them had just jumped and were moving in his direction, when Littlefoot made a swift move to dodge their claws and teeth. He looked at the two evil-looking Hollows, and they all snarled loudly at him, almost as if they were swearing to the longneck that they would kill him and feast into his blood. Of course, Littlefoot only looked back at him with a look that seemed to say: "catch me if you can."

The Hollows, of course, seemed to accept that challenge, for half of them jumped at Littlefoot, while the other half focused their attention to the other dinosaurs who were coming to them.

Cera raised her head, and seeing Littlefoot being attacked by these evil and scary-looking sharpteeth made all of her other worries disappear, and suddenly, all that was in her mind was the safety of Littlefoot, not mattering anything like trust, or lies, or any other thing of the like.

"Littlefoot!" She cried out, and Littlefoot, while still dodging the attacks of the Hollows, looked at her and said, "I got this, stay back and let me handle this!"

Cera didn't knew what to say, for it seemed like the first day with her father and Littlefoot, all over again, and Littlefoot just had to roll into the ground to avoid to have his neck bitten. He got up, ad immediately, he made his whole body glow as he screamed out.

" ** _Bright Power!_** "

As he was glowing, he was now facing the Hollows with hate in his eyes, as these things had dared to try and attack one of his friend, and Littlefoot was not the kind that could take this kind of thing lightly.

Immediately, the young longneck dashed into running, and he headbutted one of the Hollows right in the chest, making the creature be propelled several feet backwards, reeling into the ground and raising dust as it flew. The other Hollows barely had time to reach, as Littlefoot moved his hind-legs and started to kick all of the ones who were in his reach, sending them flying over just like he did with the first one. This of course, was a very impressive vision to whoever was watching it, which, of course, included Cera, who was utterly amazed by the way that Litttlefoot could handle himself.

While the longneck was defending his friend, the other members of the Order were having their own business with the Hollows who decided to focus their attention on them.

" ** _Dark Spikes!_** " Uri cried out as he slammed his front paws into the ground, and soon, thorn-like spikes protruded from the ground, impaling two Hollows, who let out screeches as they both died and dissolved into nothing more than black dust. Near him, Swift was breathing balls of pure white flames into the Hollows that were trying to approach him. Some of them dodged, but others didn't had the same luck, and they ended up being hit square on and enveloped into white flames, before their bodies vanished into nothing more than black ashes and disappeared into the wind.

Near them, Nettle was right by Terry's side, as some of the Hollows surrounded them. Nettle moved to closer to Terry, while the adult bonecrusher snarled at the Hollows. These ones were a variety created to attack and eliminate, and also, used to hunt. They were not like the ones of the first day, though, these ones were build especially for running and sneaking. They were made for chases and for stalking the targets. If he sent them, it seemed that he was planning something, Terry didn't even needed to think much to know that he was planning attacking someone of the Valley, maybe one of his friends, to get him to go straight to him. Yeah, that was just what he would do.

But Terry, of course, didn't had time to think about it, as he needed to eliminate these creatures now. Focusing, he formed orange energy in his head, which soon was molding itself, until he had the shadow of what would be a threehorn's head in his own head, complete with horns and crest.

Terry looked at the Hollow's, and he said, " ** _Threehorn's Charge!_** " As he immediately sprinted to run, his horns pointed at the Hollows as he dashed over them like a true threehorn going over to the enemy. Of course, needless to say that the relatively small Hollows didn't even stood a chance. The ones who were not pierced by the horns of energy were literally tramples by the feet of the sharptooth, or then sent flying due to the impact of that powerful head into them. The  **theehorn's charge**  was a spell that Terry had developed in his free time during his youth, and it was created based into the powerful charge attacks that the threehorns had gotten so famous for. It was a move that Terry used when he needed to get over his enemies, as it was good both for trampling the enemies as for passing right through them, and open space into their defenses so Terry could get to the other side or attack the ones who were in the middle of them. It was a very powerful and also a very dangerous attack that Terry was proud about, and that he had passed a long time developing in his early days.

The only problem was that, when charging, some people were not able to keep up with Terry as he dashed, and Nettle was one of these.

"Terry! Wait!" She cried out as the bonecrusher charged, ad she was left alone. Before she could go after him, two Hollows stopped, standing right in her way, and she let out a loud cry as they snarled at her, clicking their jaws to her as they slowly approached, as if they were getting ready to pounce at her and rend her into several pieces with their mean-looking claws, which were almost as scary as the Hollows' own appearance.

IN this moment, Nettle felt fear racing through her body, and then, she did what most dinosaurs would do in a moment like this… well, most dinosaurs who were members of the Order of Leaf and Claw and who were actually prepared to face situations like that if there was ever the need for so: She switched off all of her conscious mind and of her worries, and now, she was acting into the fight purely by instinct.

" ** _Poison Roar!_** " She cried out, as she opened her mouth and let out a torrent of what seemed some kind of yellowish-white substance, that was at some point between liquid and gas, and it hit the Hollows square on, sending them reeling back a while. Nettle could be shy and very fragile, still, she was a member of the Order, and as most members, she was able to fend for herself and to make a good fight with the Hollows, even if she herself was deadly scared of them and of fighting.

The Hollows had been propelled backwards by the wave of the attack, but soon they were both getting up once again, and they were snarling at her, as they advanced into her direction. However, before they could get to her, they both started to convulse, and as they did, it seemed that some short of foam was forming in their mouths, almost as if they were having some kind of attack. Soon, they both were completely convulsing their bodies, before they fell to the ground and convulsed in there, until their started to melt, and their bodies had completely decomposed into nothing more than pure black ash that soon dissipated as if it had never existed.

These Hollows had just succumbed to the power of Nettle's poison.

Normally the Hollows were immune to any kind of poison, once they were not truly alive. However, as a part of her magic, Nettle was able to generate some kinds of poisons that could not be found in anywhere of the natural world, which included a very special kind of poison that could affect the Hollows. This poison that she produced was capable of affecting the Hollows just like any normal poison would affect a regular living being. It was very powerful and the mortality was very, very high. Very few Hollows were able to take this poison and keep moving normally, and most of them, like these ones, usually only lived a while more before they succumbed to the effect, once they had been hit by a high enough dosage of it.

Of course, it didn't meant that it would be a surer defeat for any kind of Hollow, especially when it came to the most powerful ones and also, the poison could only cause some damage if the Hollow actually was poisoned, as a result, a Hollow that was able to dodge the poison would go completely unaffected by it, as if was the rule of most poisons.

Still, Nettle could not avoid a sense of pride to herself for being able to defeat these Hollows like that, once she recovered and saw with her own eyes what she had done. She had actually managed to defeat Hollows! Man, that was just sooooo amazing!

As they fought, another dinosaur was coming right after. Mr. Threehorn stopped once he saw the members of the Order fighting the Hollows. The threehorn and the sailback side by side, attacking the nearby Hollows with shots of light or balls of fire. The horned head standing around, trying to avoid the Hollows, but at some point having to breathe clouds of yellowish-white smoke into them, which soon made them fall to the ground and convulse before disappearing. The bonecrusher, who was smashing them with a great threehorn's head over his own, piercing them with the horns or sending them flying, or simply stomping into them until they disappeared. Finally, his attention turned to more ahead, at some distance, where the young longneck was finding some Hollows with nothing more than his own body, and he could see that the longneck himself was shinning, as Mr. Threehorn had already seen in the past. However, what most called his attention was the young threehorn girl that was standing at some more distance away, as the longneck fought the Hollows.

"Cera!" Mr. Threehorn called as he immediately sprinted to run after his daughter, startling slightly everyone who was around, as they all stopped for a moment to look at him as he ran past both members of the Order and Hollows.

"Dad!?" Cera said, seeing the old bull ran past the Hollows as if they didn't existed, only aiming to get to his daughter. Of course, this surprise only lasted for a few moments, before the Hollows and members moved back to their own fight, of course, the ones who were with Littlefoot got interested into the threehorn, and soon, they were focusing their attention on him.

Big mistake.

"Hey!" Littlefoot said, grabbing one Hollow by the tail with his mouth, and throwing it up to the sky. "You are fighting me!" He said, as a familiar form of light formed in his forehead. " ** _Light Sharp Horn!_** "

As the Hollow went down, Littlefoot let it be speared by his horn. The Hollow let out a screeching cry as it spurted some purple blood and disappeared into nothing more than dust. And, of course, Littlefoot wasted no time with it, as he immediately turned his attention to the other Hollows, who now had their attention completely turned to him once more, as they resumed their fight.

Mr. Threehorn move closer, and he looked at the longneck who was fighting horn with claws with the freaky sharpteeth. Littlefoot, of course, noticed it, and he said to him, without stopping his fight. "Cera if fine! Take her to a safe place!"

Mr. Threehorn only looked at him for a few moments, and with a might cry, he was able to slice two Hollows clean in half, making them vanish. "Now!" He cried out to the threehorn, before turning his attention back to the fight, as other Hollows came in his attack.

Of course, despite not liking the idea of receiving orders, specially from that young longneck, what was in risk in there was the safety of his own daughter, so, of course that the old bull would not discuss this, and immediately, he sued the distraction that the longneck was creating and was running in direction to his daughter, who continued to watch, amazed, to the fight of Littlefoot with the monsters.

"Cera! We need to get away from here now!" Topps said, but his daughter didn't answer him, as she kept her attention glued into the fight happening in front of her eyes. "Cera!" He nearly shouted, and this made Cera finally snap off her stupor, as she blinked and looked up at her dad.

"We need to get out of here, now!" He demanded, only wanting to have his little girl as far of these monsters as it was possible.

"B-but Littlefoot…" She tried to protest, but her father didn't wanted to listen, and he only cut her.

"Let's go now!"

Cera knew that there was no discussing, as all that she could do was cast another glance at Littlefoot, as the longneck continued to fight, and soon, she and her father were moving away from the Hollows and the members of the Order, as they continued their fight, and Cera could not avoid but feeling like they were running away from it, and that it was almost as if they were abandoning them at their own luck. She discovered that she felt horrible because of it.

Littlefoot, on the other paw, felt very much relieved as he saw Cera going with her father to safety. He was glad for that, for he knew that he would be able to fight with much more efficiency and focus, now that he would no longer have to worry about Cera being in danger. Now Littlefoot really was getting to understand more what the adults felt whenever Littlefoot and his friends got into trouble with sharpteeth, for he was feeling this in his own skin as he saw his friends get into troubles with Hollows, which were, in their own right, much more dangerous and deadly than any normal sharptooth could ever dream to be.

However, it was no time for reflections, for Littlefoot was in the middle of a fight with Hollows that he knew that would love to tear him apart completely. One of which, by the way, had just swiped his claws at him and almost hit him in the neck, and of course that Littlefoot was not going to simply accept it.

Littlefoot immediately moved his head, slicing out the head of the Hollow clean off. The body walked around as the head decomposed in dust, and tried to reach the place where the head was with its arms. Soon, the body dropped to the ground and decomposed into black dust, and disappeared completely.

As Littlefoot was having his own affairs, Swift was now surrounded by four Hollows, all of which looked at him and snarled as they snapped their jaws, and they were drooling, as if they were watering their mouths at the thought of digging their teeth and claws into the sailback's skin, tearing his flesh and making him scream in pure agony.

Swift simply stood stoic as always, as he looked around at the Hollows surrounding him, and as he did, his eyes started to shine white, as white as his fire, as he growled at them, and he said, "Come get me."

As if on cue, the Hollows all screeched, and they all jumped in the air, their claws pointed at Swift, as he simple breathed, and immediately, his claws ignited, and he made a gesture with them as he spun around. As he did, the white flames left a trail behind, and they started to gather until they formed a ring of pure white flames.

**_"Fire Circle!"_**  Swift cried out as the flames formed a circle around him, and immediately, this circle brusted outwards, sending a circular wave of flames all around the sailback. The Hollows, all around him, where hit square on by these flames, and sent back reeling outwards, as the flames clung to their bodies and started to burn them.

Swift simply looked around unfazed as the Hollows got back to their feet, snarling as the flames licked their bodies and burned away pieces of their bodies, but they seemed to be far too angry and focused into the sailback to actually feel any kind of pain. That is, if the Hollows actually felt any short of pain.

Instead, they simply snarled as they seemed ready to pounce at Swift once again, and now, more determined to attack him and kill him. Swift, however, was readier than he had ever been, and as so, he created another white flame in his claws, and was ready for them.

Immediately, one of them charged at him, ready to strike, and Swift simply slammed his open claw into the ground in front of him, as he screamed  ** _"Flame Wall!"_**  and immediately, the flames in his claws spread into the ground, and raised as a curtain of scorching-white flames. The Hollow barely had time to react as it crashed right into the curtain of flames, and it was immediately reduced to nothing more than ashes as the intense heat completely destroyed it.

However, Swift knew that it was no time to celebrate, for he still had a problem in his claws, as there were three Hollows left, all of them furious, and one of them already was attacking, and this one was smart enough to jump right over the flames, avoiding them completely.

Swift looked up as the Hollow was diving in his direction, the claws ready to slice and destroy, but Swift was faster. He immediately slid behind, leaving the Hollow to land into the ground, and immediately jump after him to try to destroy him. Of course, Swift was able to dodge every single swipe of claws that the Hollow tried to give at him, and the Hollow was actually getting more and more insistent, as it seemed determined to destroy Swift. Of course, it was harder because the Hollow was still covered into white flames, almost as if it could not sense the flames at all, and Swift remembered himself that it was possible, still, he was surprised that this Hollow and the others had not fallen yet. Of course, the  **Fire Circle**  was not his strongest move, once it was created more to surprise the enemy and make them back away, still, these Hollows seemed to be a little stronger than normal to handle the scorching flames for so long without being destroyed.

It just showed that he was sending stronger Hollows to the Valley in order to get the mission done. It showed that he was really determined, and that he believed it to be true as much as the Order did. That, of course, only gave Swift more to fuel his determination and fight even harder, which was what he did.

As the Hollow swiped its claw one more time, Swift grabbed it by the wrist, the part that wasn't on fire, and spun around, and sent the Hollow flying, until it landed heavily into the ground. Swift was good into a fight, even if it was without his magic, and he was able to fight without it if there was actually the need, or if he was in the mood for scratching someone in the face, as he felt like doing with these damned piles of darkness.

As the Hollow was into the ground, the other two were coming now in his direction, but Swift was still unfazed, for he was already sued to fight, and he had already lost his patient with these Hollows. As the things jumped in his direction, the sailback gathered air into his lungs, and he screamed out.  ** _"Fire Breath!"_** [

Immediately, he opened his jaws wide, a big torrent of white flames, almost a pillar of flames, jumped out of his mouth and in direction to the Hollows, who had the bad luck of being all gathered into the path of the flames, as they were all hit almost at the same time.

They were reduced to nothing more than ash in no time, and soon, the flames subsided, and Swift simply looked at the place where the Hollows had once been, which now had only charred and darkened grass into the ground, result from the intense heat form the flames that Swift breathed over them. Swift simply ruffed as he looked at the Hollows, glad that he had destroyed all of them.

As he was busy with that, Terry had just finished stepping on another Hollow, making it completely disappear into dust, and then, he stepped on also another, and this time, he crushed its tail and legs, and left the Hollow, still alive (kind of), struggling under his paw, but unable to escape or to do anything against them.

Terry looked down at that vile creature, as he wondered just how brave their enemy had gotten all of sudden, after almost three days of silence from his part, without the attacks from the Hollows. It was enough time for them to relax and slightly drop their guards, which was enough to put a young life in danger, and Terry was sure going to kick himself in the tail later for that, but now, he had to finish that creature.

He was getting ready to step on it again, when the creature started to squirm and to move as if it was having an epileptic attack, and this made Terry stop and look at the creature, and he already had an idea of what was happening.

Soon, the creature stopped to squirm, and looked up at him, and it smirked at him, and Terry only looked down at it with spite, as he said in sharptooth, " _Coming to see the ob that your Hollows did?_ "

The creature laughed as it looked up at him, and answered back in sharptooth " _Just coming to give a look in your face. Seeing if you are doing a good job protecting this valley and the tasty leaf eaters that live in here and preventing me from putting my claws in them. Well, I guess the answer is not, since I could almost get my claws into that little delicious looking threehorn girl. I'm sure I would love to taste her flesh through my Hollows._ "

He was testing him. He was testing him and wanted to see him lose his cool, and Terry knew it well. Still, Terry was not going to give him this pleasure, he was superior to that. " _It was a mistake that we won't make again._ " He spoke to the Hollow, and to the one who was talking through it. " _Anyway, I guess we will soon make up to the members of the Valley as soon as we get you._ "

" _Get me!? HAH!_ " The Hollow laughed, " _As if you had not tried before, and had not failed all the time! You and your previous teams had all tried to get me in the past, and I fooled all of you! I don't think that this new team of yours will be able to get me. As well as you will not protect HIM!_ "

This one had actually pushed a button for Terry, as he looked down at the Hollow, and strengthened his step into the lower parts, making the bones crack. The Hollow, however, only laughed. Both he and Terry knew that the controller could not feel any pain through a Hollow, but still, Terry kind of felt good by feeling the bones crack under his big paw, as if it could actually hit him hard.

The Hollow, however, seemed to get happier, as he saw that he was actually making a score. He continued, as he was seeing a weakness in there. " _Yes, I'll have him, and don't think you will stop me. I'll get him, and I'll kill every single leaf eater of this valley if I have to, until I have him in my claws. I can't wait to taste his flesh, I bet it tastes wonderfully, if he really is as special as you all believe him to be. Maybe he tastes even better than your daughter did._ "

There was a lot of things that Terry could take, but that one had officially went past the line. With a mighty roar, that startled all of the others around him, and many other dinosaurs around the Great Valley, the bonecrusher sharptooth made justice to the name of his species, and stepped hard into the Hollow, making the sound of the creature's bones breaking, as the creature now was completely eliminated, and it disappeared away into nothingness, as it had been created.

Terry was always proud that he could keep his cool and that he didn't lost his attitude for any kind of provocation that could come to him. Also, he was never the kind that actually used anger as an excuse to hurt and even kill other dinosaurs, once something like that would be highly against his morals, and he never supported or encouraged revenge for anyone or for anyone. However, even Terry had to admit to himself that doing that had actually felt good…

By the ancestors, it felt SO damn good!

"Terry?" Someone's voice called him back to reality, and he looked over to see Nettle, who was approaching him and looking slightly scared, and he looked over, to see all of his students looking at him, Uri looking slightly hesitant to approach, Littlefoot looking worried, and Swift looking as if he was really interested in there, however, even Swift seemed to be somewhat worried about him, as Terry could see that into his eyes.

Terry felt ashamed of himself for losing control like that in front of them, and he needed to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and after a while, he finally looked back at his students, and he said, "I… I'm sorry for this."

There was a silence following his words, as none of his students could actually think of anything smart or good to say at a moment like that. So, the silence lasted for a while, until Uri finally said, "Well, I guess that he is still wanting trouble, after all."

"We already imagined that he would." Swift said, stepping forward as he stood with ia arms crossed in front of his chest. "We all know that he is the kind that don't gives up easily from his ambitions."

"Indeed." Terry said, looking at his students, as he had now completely regained his composure. "He seems to be even more determined than never. It seems that this time he is completely sure."

"These are not news." Swift said, "We all know that he would come and try it even if he was not sure. He won't allow anything nor anyone to stand in his way."

"What if he attacks again?" Nettle asked, and she sounded scared, and Terry soon said:

"Now it is not a matter of if, but of when." He looked at all of his students, and he said, "He is the kind of dinosaur that won't allow his plans to be fooled, so he will not give up for anything that comes now. If he had come this far already, there is no reason why he would not go even farther."

Terry looked at all his students, and he said, "All the residents of the Valley are in danger while he continues in his quest, and we all know that."

The students all stood in silence, each one with different thoughts in their heads, but they all were worried. Especially Littlefoot, after all they were talking about his home, and about all the people who he knew and who he loved and cared about: his family, his friends, everyone.

Littlefoot looked up, and he said, "So, we must be ready for when he comes." His voice was determined, in a way that only the desire to protect his family and loved ones could make him, and Terry looked down at him, and he nodded.

"Yes, young one. We must be always ready, for dinosaurs like him are a threat to the lives of every creature that lives in peace in this world. As long as there are dinosaurs like him, that threaten the innocent and try to kill only for the sake of it, we all must be ready to stand up and defend what is right."

The students all nodded in agreement with their teacher and leader. They all knew that Terry was right, after all, that was the main goal of the Order of Leaf and Claw: to make the world be a place where everyone could live together in harmony and peace. That was their main goal, and that was the ideal that they all defended with their very lives. Dinosaurs like  _him_  represented exactly everything that the Order hated, and the exact opposite of all that they defended and represented. That was why they should be ready to fight and to defeat creatures like that, to which the Hollows became servants, and to make sure that they would not be able to hurt anyone ever again.

They all were determined to that, specially the longneck. He had tried to kill Cera. He had tried to attack one of his friends, and that was something that Littlefoot could never, ever forgive. Littlefoot made a silent vow to himself as he had a fierce and very determined look in his face, along with all of the other members of the Order:

He vowed that he would find him and that he would make him pay. He would make sure that he was not going to threaten or hurt any of his friends, or anyone that he cared about. Ever again.

As the Order recomposed from that fight, Terry told them to go back, but for Swift and Littlefoot to stay with him as they patrolled, to make sure that there was not any more danger of the Hollows. And so, the members of the Order parted their ways, with Terry, Swift and Littlefoot going to patrol, while Uri and Nettle went back, to meet with the other dinosaurs who had probably heard to commotion and would want answers. They would tell them that it was everything alright and that there was no danger anymore.

Littlefoot was glad that he had recovered from his wounds and that he had been sleeping very well in the past days. He knew that the night was going to be long and hard, either they found another group of Hollows or not. And yet, he was already knowing that the future was uncertain, and that could be many more dangers laying ahead in their way. Still, he was completely ready to take on any threat that stood in the way, for he had the lives of everyone he cared about in his back, and there was no way that he was going to let them down…

* * *

"What were you thinking!?" Topps demanded form his daughter once they were far and seemingly safe form the Hollows. "Walking around alone in such a situation!?"

Cera didn't answered, she was simply looking at the ground as she let her father vent out his anger. She knew that he was not really mad at her, for it was not her fault. He just needed to scream a little, to let out all of his frustration and all the things that were bothering him, because this way he could feel better and he would be able to think calmly again.

And it worked, for soon Topps was calming down enough, and he was able to take a deep breath, and he finally spoke. "It is that longneck's fault."

Cera raised her head, looking in surprise at her father, who continued. "It is all his fault and of these blasted dinosaurs of this 'Order'. Yes, because before they arrived, nothing like that had ever happened before! They only brought problems with them since they arrived!"

Cera looked at her father, who continued with his tirade, and he was talking about convincing the council to vote for their banishment from the Valley. He seemed to really attribute all of what was happening of bad to the Great Valley to the dinosaurs who recently arrived with their magic, including Littlefoot.

Cera listened to what he was saying, however, she was only listening to around half of it, for she was still playing back to all the events that had happened in that same night, and she could not help but recall every single one of them, and she imagined that she was going to recall them with amazing accuracy for the next days.

She could still remember that evil and dark tune into the voice of that creature, as it spoke to her. She could remember the putrid smell of the breath of the thing, that was way worse than any smelly bog that she had ever been before in her life. It was like the smell of pure decadence and cruelty, even if Cera herself didn't knew how she would be able to describe it if anyone asked.

There were still these empty eyes, that Cera had a feeling that could see way past her own, and pierce to her very soul. It was a scary feeling, like that creature could see what she was thinking and know what she was thinking. This feeling like there was someone probing into her mind and into her very core was enough to sent chills down her neck and until the tip of her tail, specially coming from something that was clearly wicked and evil, as Cera could see very well in these pair of eyes, that showed a cold and soulless look, but carried to the brim with some short of evilness that Cera never before saw in the eyes of any dinosaur, sharptooth or not.

Also, there was that wicked smile, and it self was enough to sent chills to Cera again, and it combined with everything to create the kind of creature that could scare cera beyond all that she had ever felt before. In front of all of that, Cera saw herself understanding well why the Order seemed to be so afraid of these creatures and take them all so seriously. Anything that could pass the impression of being so evil surely  _had_  to be truly evil. She was now understanding perfectly why Littlefoot was so worried about these things, and why he was taking them as a serious threat and why he seemed to want his friends to be as far as possible from these things, Cera knew that she, herself, wanted nothing but distance form these creatures in the future.

Still, that was not what had called her attention more than anything. What really made her blood freeze were the words of the creature. Or… the words of the one who was controlling the creatures, Cera was still a bit confused as she had heard a lot from the other residents about the nature of these attackers, and about the intentions of his controller.

The creature spoke as if it was smart, not just a stupid sharptooth who was behind food. No. It had a goal, and Cera could tell it perfectly, and this goal didn't involved the Great Valley itself, but it involved an specific dinosaur. It had it goal to put his teeth into that dinosaur, and was using the Hollows to search and to reach it, and it seemed to be willing to destroy the Great Valley in order to be able to get his claws into the target.

And also, there was the matter of just who the target was.

And once more, Cera felt chills running her back, these ones not only of fear, but also of worry. The creature planned to use her to attract the target in order to be able to catch it. And the creature herself said that he would come to her rescue because he was her friend.

These words, of course, lead Cera to a very logic conclusion. One that she didn't quite liked, both because it meant danger and also because it somehow gave reason to his father as he said it was the Order's fault. One conclusion that made Cera get filled with worry for someone who had been with her since ever she could remember, and who she would not want, not in the whole world, to be in danger and to see dead.

One conclusion that made her feel bad as she thought of that, and which she wanted to think that was wrong, and that she took it wrong from the beginning. But still, it was one that made the most perfect sense in all of that, and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense and to make her think that the idea was actually right.

This conclusion made it seemed like her stomach was cropping and it created a sense of dread into the back of her head, and she wanted desperately to reject this idea, but still, she found herself unable to. One idea that, actually, explained a lot of things, and made all the pieces fall together in place and seemed to make all the things make the most perfect sense, and made it all perfectly clear.

Soon, that idea was settling into her mind, and it seemed as if it was becoming something that she was going to have to accept as a horrible truth, no matter how much she actually didn't liked it and wanted it to be a lie:

Who and whatever it was that was attacking the Great Valley, and sending the minions to do it, was after Littlefoot.

 

 

 


	12. The Need for Answers

The next morning came as a new day for everyone, and soon, the news of what had happened during the night had already spread all across the Valley.

Sure, they all already expected the Hollows to appear again, but after the three days without any sign of them or of danger of any kind, many had already relaxed, and some even thought that the danger was now over. The last night showed that it was not truth, and that the danger was still in there, and maybe that it was more present than ever. The fact that someone nearly got killed by the Hollows made it perfectly clear for everyone.

Sure, many were scared by this, thinking that maybe the Hollows could attack again. That was expected, of course, after all, it would have been strange if, in the same situation, people who never had experience with the Hollows before would  _not_  get scared by the prospect of another attack.

Still, the members of the Order did the best they could to calm down the residents and assure them that they would do all that they could to protect the Valley and keep everyone who lived in there safe and sound. This was enough to make most people feel safer, but still, there were some who were not going to relax so easily.

Among them, there was a familiar threehorn, who was now very keen into blaming the Order for what was happening. Old Topps was being very loud into saying that it was all the fault of these strange dinosaurs, with their magic and all of the like. He was saying that they were the ones who brought their own problems to their yards, and that they should leave the Valley and never to return.

While most other dinosaurs simply thought that he was overreacting, there were some dinosaurs who actually quite agreed with the threehorn, for they all considered the fact that, before these dinosaurs showed up in their Valley, all the things that were happening them had never even happened before.

While some of these dinosaurs were making as much noise as Mr. Threehorn was, there was enough dinosaurs in the other side of the argument to make sure that no one was going to chase the Order away, which included Littlefoot's own grandparents, who stood for their grandson and for the rest of his friends of the Order. Not to mention Littlefoot's friends (except for Cera) who were willing to stand their ground until the end and risk walking over a bridge above a river of fire for their friend and for the dinosaurs of the order, who they came all to like and admire.

Anyway, even if they were not on their side, many of the dinosaurs who quite agreed with the old bull would not openly voice their desire for the Order to leave, due to the fear of the dinosaurs and of what they could do. After all, it was already a bad idea to make a sharptooth angry with you, and it was surely an even worse idea to make a sharptooth who could throw fireballs from his claws mad at you!

So, the Order didn't faced as much trouble as it was expected, but still, they noticed from that day on that some of the residents were more mistrusting of them, and shooting them glares as they passed. They faced it as maturely as possible, including Swift, who answered to that with a mean glare and a snarl as answer to anyone, what was usually enough to make everyone look away and leave him alone, once they knew that they didn't wanted trouble with him.

While some dinosaurs were less friendly towards the Order after that night, Littlefoot noticed what seemed to be a new change in attitude towards Cera.

He noticed that, after that night, she was a bit less hostile towards him, and that she actually seemed to be following him a bit more, but now, she seemed as if she was worried with him. He could see that in her eyes, and he noticed that there was some kind of worry in them. It was like she was almost feeling sorry for him, as if she was worried that something bad could happen.

Could it be because he saved her in that night? Littlefoot could only guess, but still, the look in her eyes, as if she was truly worried about him, and about his safety, made him think…

Soon, the time was passing, and the event of the night had already been two days ago, still, everybody was more alert than ever, specially the members of the Order, who were ready to act at any sign of danger, for they were not going to allow their guard to drop again. Even Littlefoot and Nettle, who played with Littlefoot's friend from time to time seemed to be always looking over their shoulders, as if they were waiting for Hollows to jump out of the bushes behind them at any moment.

They were worried with the safety of everyone, and that was clear to who knew Littlefoot, and knew that all he wanted was to keep his friends and loved ones safe from all harm. This only made his friends and family admire the young longneck even more, for they all saw him as a great hero now, with powers and everything.

"One treestar… two treestars…" Nettle was counting as she had her eyes covered and everyone around was starting to move to hide. Spike was hiding with Ducky behind a bush, while Petrie hid into a hole into a three. Chomper hid behind a big rock while Ruby climbed up a tree and hid among the foliage that was in there. Littlefoot, on his turn, hid himself behind a big tree, and remained perfectly still, and it almost seemed as if he was disappearing into the shadows. The longneck had to thank a lot for the lessons he had at stealth with the other members, for it made him very good into hiding and camouflaging his presence.

"…Eight treestars… nine treestars… TEN TREESTARS! Ready or not, here I go!" Nettle said, as he looked around, searching for any clue of where Littlefoot and the others could have went. She also received training from the Order, what meant thatr she was almost as skilled as any of the other members in the needed tasks, which included tracking.

She was surely not as good as many other members, like Swift, but still, she was good enough so she was able to easily track down a regular dinosaur by the traits that they left, like footprints and slightly crushed leaves. So, it was only a matter of time as she walked before she found the dinosaurs one by one.

Spike and Ducky were the first ones, of course, and soon after, she found Petrie hiding inside a flower, next she found Chomper hiding behind the big rock, and finally, she douns Ruby up the tree. The only one left was Littlefoot, and he was proving to be the real challenge of this whole game. Littlefoot had just as much training as her, even though he was in the Order for less time than she was, and he was very skilled. The others said that he was a rare natural talent.

Littlefoot only remained perfectly still where he was, while Nettle continued to try finding any clue of him, however, the longneck was proving to be better than many other dinosaurs in the art of hiding and covering completely his tracks and his presence. As a result, Nettle could not find him as easily as she did with the others. She continued to search for him still, as she looked in all the places she could think of. She did, however, failed to notice that a shadow of one nearby tree was had slightly more volume than it was to be expected.

She lasted fro a while looking for Littlefoot, while the rest of his friedns watched, and they also were looking around, but they were failing to see the place Littlefoot was.

"Littlefoot got better in hiding." Petrie said as he hovered near Chomper's head, and the blue sharptooth agreed with him. "Yeah, I cannot see him anywhere." He then sniffed the air slightly, "I can still feel his scent, but I cannot see where he went."

None of them gave attention to the volume into the shadow of the tree, resting perfectly still as the other dinosaurs were looking around, and even when Nettle came really close to him. At some point, the horned head finally gave up, and she said, "Okay, Littlefoot, you won, come out now!"

The longneck sighed, and he finally came out of his hiding place, and it was almost as if he had suddenly appeared from nothing. It startled the nearby dinosaurs, specially Nettle, who was just by the side of his hiding spot as the lognenck finally appeared.

All his friends were admired that the longneck was able to hide so well, and Littlefoot took all of that as a big compliment to the skills he had learned into the Order. So, with this over, they all were able to laugh at that, all admired with Littlefoot's skill. Of course, they all failed to notice another dinosaur, watching them from a distance. That was, until Littlefoot had a sudden feeling, as if a sensation that he was being watched, and he looked over his own shoulder-blade to see a very familiar set of eyes, before the owner of these eyes turned around and left quickly into a yellow blur.

Littlefoot looked as Cera ran from there, and he was still unable to shake away the feeling of sadness that it came from seeming that Cera was no longer able to trust him, and that he was somehow losing a good friend of his'. The others still seemed to not have noticed, as they were still complimenting Littlefoot for all of his skills, and for all that he was able to do with his new abilities. Their friend really had turned into someone who was truly awesome, and they were all super excited due to that, but Cera, however, seemed to be just worried about it all, and that bothered Littlefoot to a great extent.

Howver, their trail of thoughts were interrupted as they all heard Swift's voice. "Littlefoot! Nettle!" And all of the young dinosaurs turned their head to look at the sailback, who was walking in their direction calmly with his arms crossed, as it was regular for him. He simply walked to them, and he said, "Terry is searching for you two, it is training time."

The two dinosaurs shared a look, and they both nodded at Swift. Even though they still preferred to spend more time with their friends, playing, they both understood that they had responsibilities as members of the Order, and the others also understood that. And sure, like usual, they would follow their friends to watch that training. These training sessions were already becoming famous into the Valley, and some dinosaurs went in there to watch, and they always got amazed by the ability that the dinosaurs showed. However, even as Littlefoot was able to leave most of his worries aside as he was already on his way to another training session with his fellow members of the order, he could still not shake away the feeling that came to him from the feeling of being in bad terms with Cera. Having one of his friends seemingly acting like it was mad at him was the kind of thing that made Littlefoot deeply worried, and almost depressed. Even if he put this feeling aside into the time of training and focus only on the task in paw, as he was taught to do so during the trainings and all the serious matters of the Order, that thought would still remain in the back of his head and plague his thoughts as he went his way, and Littlefoot knew that it would not go away definitively until he was finally able to talk to Cera and short things out.

* * *

Cera had to run in the moment she saw that Littlefoot had noticed her and was looking deeply in her eyes, seeming to be surprised. It was amazing how Littlefoot had changed in the time he was away with the order. She never had seen Littlefoot like that.

It was not only the skill that he had acquired while he was out and the new magic powers that he had. No. It was something more. It was something about the way he stood and the way he was acting, as if he was not afraid of the world anymore, and was ready to face anything that it could throw at him. It was easy to notice by the way he acted and the look into his eyes that now he was much more confident and much more determined.

She had already been at Littlefoot's side in many situation before, and saw him be brave and strong in several different moment, still, Cera never saw Littlefoot like that before. So confident and so determined.

She never saw him so strong.

While it was something that made she admire him, it was still also that puzzled her in how much Littlefoot had actually changed in these past few night circle cycles. It seemed that the Order had somehow being really good to him, and that was easy to see in how much more confident Littlefoot had become and how it was easy to notice it since he returned to the Valley.

Still, as Cera had already easily noticed, not all the changes were good. The longneck was still with secrets, but still, Cera had a feeling that she already knew what it was all about.

This new kind of enemy seemed to be after Littlefoot for some reason, and Cera had already wondered all the reasons for that.

She remembered well that the Order had said that Littlefoot's abilities were rare and that they were very efficient against the forces of evil. So, it would make sense that this enemy was after Littlefoot since the longneck could be a dangerous threat to its plans. It would make perfectly sense that this dangerous enemy would want to get rid of Littlefoot before he could actually get on his way, just like Red claw had tried to get rid of him long ago, and so did other of their enemies in the past, some of them really dangerous.

Still, there was the fact about what that sharptooth spoke to her, about Littlefoot and the others being famous. It was also possible that this could have at least something to do with the personal gratification that it would come from eating one of them.

Anyway, Cera knew that the enemy, whatever it actually was, was after Littlefoot, and that would explain all of the things that had happened.

If the thing was after Littlefoot, it would make sense that it would come after the Valley and of all that Littlefoot held dear, so it could lure the young longneck right to it. That would also explain why Littlefoot, despite looking far more confident and far stronger, seemed to be constantly worried, especially with his friends and loved ones. And, of course, there was the detail of the members of the Order wanting to keep it a secret from everyone. If they knew that Littlefoot was actually the reason why all of that was happening, especially her father… Cera shuttered visibly into thinking what they would all do to Littlefoot. At the best case scenario, they would chase him out of the Valley along with all of the other members of the Order, and anyone who could try to stand on his defense. In the worst case scenario, they would do what was once suggested before, to capture Littlefoot and give him to whoever this enemy was, and let him do to the longneck whatever it wanted, this thougth made Cera deeply afraid. And, of course, there was the case in which her father was probably going to incite the other dinosaurs to do something unimaginable with the young longneck. Anyway, all of these options meant that Littlefoot could be gone again, and this time it would be forever. This was enough to make Cera deeply worried.

She was never going to admit it to anyone, and she was going to be eaten by a sharptooth before she let the others see her weakness. Still, she could not avoid getting worried with Littlefoot. The time the longneck went missing was a very hard time for her, as well as for all the others.

Littlefoot had been gone for a long time, without warning, without any news, and seemingly without any trace. It was all so sudden and so strange, and it was like the longneck had simply vanished in the air. The times that they passed without finding him, and without having any kind of news of him, it was a time that had been stressful to all of them, and Cera had felt it as much as all the others, once Littlefoot and her had been close for a real long time, ever since the first adventure they got together.

It was comprehensible that she got deeply worried with the longneck, as he was a very dear friend to her. She just didn't thought that she would be strong enough to feel the sensation of losing someone so close and so dear to her again. She didn't wanted to pass by that again. She didn't wanted to feel like she was losing Littlefoot once again. However, it seemed that it was nothing that she could do about it, once Littlefoot seemed more distant than before, and Cera suspected that she already knew the reason for it too.

With the knowledge that there was something after him, and that this thing already having shown that it would not hesitate in going after his loved ones to induce Littlefoot to go straight at his claws, it would make sense that Littlefoot would want to keep this information from said people, once this could lead them to be deeply worried, and it could very well put them into greater danger. That could be the perfectly reasonable motive for Littlefoot acting the way he was acting, and keeping thgins from his friends and acting the way he was. It was not about not trusting into his friend anymore, it was only that he cared about them, and he didn't wanted to see them hurt or in danger, and he was willing to do so in order to keep them safe.

This thought was a good one, compared to the ones that Cera already had, and it somehow made her admire her longneck friend more, for he was willing to risk damaging his friendship with others in order to be sure that they were going to be safe and sound. Still, she could not shake away the bad feeling about what Littlefoot was doing it, and the feeling that came from being left in the dark like that.

Once again, she felt like she was being left out of something important, as well as the others. Even if it was for their own safety, Cera always hated to be left out of subjects that were so important and that were directly related to her and her friends. It was like Littlefoot was their own parents, keeping things from them without giving them information because he thought that it was better for them and for their future. It was basically the same thing as her father having ordered her to stay away from Littlefoot because it was "no safe". Bah! It was all driving her crazy.

It was almost as if Littlefoot still didn't trusted his friends enough to know that they would be able to deal with this kind of information, after all that they have been through. As if they were not mature or experienced enough to be able to deal with this kind of information, after all the dangers they faced and after all the times that they had already been almost eaten and were able to actually escape nearly unscathed from all of these dangers. With this kind of thing Cera was almost to the point of feeling offended.

She was perfectly able to deal with this information! And she knew that the others could too. Well, maybe Petrie and Ducky would get somewhat scared by this, and she was not sure of how Chomper would react, but she was sure that they all were able to be able to deal with it calmly. It made sense that he would hide this kind of information from her father, but hiding it from her too? Cera really hated to be left off of these important matters like that, as like the adults always did.

Littlefoot was acting more like an adult; it meant that somehow the order had granted him to mature, and to become more responsible for before. But of course, that could not be a good thing if that meant that Littlefoot was now going to treat his own friends as if they were babies, just like the adults had already done many times. That was making Cera so dawn furious.

Still, the worry that she had for her friend and for his well-being was far greater than any anger. She was still worried with Littlefoot, and she wanted to talk to him, so he could confirm all that she was thinking and imagining, and so he could give her confirming words that were going to make it all okay. Cera knew that it would not solve anything, nor nothing of the like, but she was totally knowing that if she heard the longneck say these words, that everything was fine, and that it was all going to be alright, even if these words were unsure or even empty, it would make her feel better and feel more secure, just like it had already made many times in the past. She knew that it was childish, but still, she could not shake away the feeling that she needed to talk to Littlefoot.

Even if it was going to only hear him say that the situation is bad and that he cannot talk about it, or even to hear him say that he had to stay at a distance in order to keep them all safe. She only knew that she had to talk to him. A long, honest, serious talk, to settle all of her doubts and to be sure that everything was going to be okay, or to at least have complete sure of what she was facing in there and what was going to happen in the future.

Even so, she knew that it was hard, first of all, because Littlefoot himself was not willing to talk, and she knew that his fellows of the Order were not going to allow that, since they all seemed interested in keeping secret about this whole situation. Not to mention her own father, who wanted her to be away from Littlefoot and all of the other dinosaurs of the Order, and all of the like. Still, Cera was too determined. She had inherited her stubbornness from her father, and she now had set a goal in her head and she was not going to back away from it, for she wanted to be with Littlefoot for this long talk, and she was not going to let anyone get in her way.

She already was setting a plan to be able to settle this all, and she was going to put it into motion yet that same night, and she was not willing to let anyone else get in her way. She had been in the dark for too long, and if Littlefoot was really one with power of the light, then she was going to force him to give her light into that situation that same night!

She was done being left out!

* * *

Littlefoot cried out in a mighty shout as he charged against Uri. In his head it was his  **Light Sharp Horn** , shining and ready for the fight, while Uri had his  **Night Horns**  ready to fight. He had a smug grin in his face as the longneck charged at him, and soon, the horns of light and shadows connected.

Due to his greater size, Uri was not easily shaken by the attack, even with the power that Littlefoot was able to pack into his horn of light, for Uri was too able to pack a good amount of power into his horns of blackness. However, the first blow was merely just the start of the battle. Immediately, Littlefoot gave a step back and he swung his head, making his horn move in a diagonal way to slash the target, but Uri was quick to parry it with his horns made out of darkness, parrying the attack and pushing the longneck back a little.

Littlefoot quickly recovered, and started to tumble into the ground as he tried to land a decent blow into Uri, but the threehorn was able to easily parry it with his horns, as he was showing to have far more experience than the little longneck, enough to counter the younger dinosaur's natural talent. Uri danced along with him, almost as if it was a tango, as he dodged the attacks and tried to land his own with his horns, while Littlefoot continued to tumble to dodge the attacks and continued to attack with his horn of light.

While they fought, Terry was watching, and he was making some remarks into the way their fought as they went. "Littlefoot, keep the speed up. Uri, stop messing around, focus on the defense." He gave these advices to them that were lessons about how to fight better, and the two dinosaurs took them gladly as they continued to fight, as if they were in their own world that could not be disturbed by anything coming form the outside.

Which included the dinosaurs who were all watching their fight.

They all were interested into watching the training and into seeing what was going to happen, and to see who was going to win. Some were already making bets, and some were actually cheering for their favorite among the two. Littlefoot's friends from the Valley, of course, were cheering for him and giving him encouraging words. Nettle was, as usual, indecision about who to cheer for, so she cheered for both, while Swift remained with his usual neutral and stoic demeanor as he watched the fight unfold in front of him, not taking any side as he simply watched them, and only hoping that the fight was going to make its purpose, and prepare them good for when they were going to face a real fight when it came to them.

Not all the dinosaurs who were watching were making their presence know, though. There was one that was watching from a distance from which he considered he was not going to be noticed. The grey threehorn remained still and silent as a shadow as he continued to watch the dinosaurs train with their magic powers, and he took a particular interest into the fight happening between the longneck and the relatively small threehorn.

Mr. Threehorn had been doing this for a while now, sneaking at a distance and watch the dinosaurs of the Order have these training sessions. It was a good chance to see exactly what they were capable of doing, and to see the limits of their powers and how they fought. It could be useful to realize their weaknesses and to find out ways of defeating them if there was ever the need of that. After all, he was still very far from trusting them or wanting to have any good relations with any of them.

Still, he could not avoid get slightly impressed when he saw what they were able to do when they were into a fight, and also getting a little intimidated by the power they showed. However, there was one that could always get to make him just the slightest of admired, and it was that younger grey-colored threehorn.

He was smaller than it was supposed for his age, still, the old bull knew that he was impressed by the confidence that he exhaled, as well as the persistence into the fights that would make any threehorn proud of him. The young man had some courage and some skill, and that Mr. Threehorn had to give him.

He could lack the size, and he could not charge right away like most threehorns did, but it was easy to notice that he had his own particular way of fighting, and much of it involved using his small size as an advantage to him. It was an perfect example of someone who seemed to be able to make the most of a bad situation, and he also showed to be very skilled in fight, even without his magic, as the old Topps could notice rather clearly by the way he was able to fight.

Of course, there was still the fact that this little longneck was able to keep up with him, what would hurt the pride of most threehorns, but this one seemed to little mind, and he just continued to fight with certain confidence as he was keeping up with him as they both seemed to be putting a good effort into that fight.

That only serve to the old threehorn as more of a proof that the Order was not around for jokes, and that they were dangerous. Still, he could not help but admire that threehorn, and the way he did things. He was clearly inexperienced, actually, sometimes he seemed to be almost childish, but he had the spirit and the will of a respectable threehorn.

However, no amount of admiration that he could feel because of that threehorn would be enough to shuffle down the mistrust that he had for these dinosaurs, who had brought their own problems into their lives, and put everyone in danger. The old bull was keeping an eye open for all of them, and he was not going to drop his guard for nothing. He would find out what was that secret they were holding, and once he did, he would make all the other residents kick them out of the Great Valley for good. The old bull had already settled his mind, and he was going to the end with it. And nothing was going to make him give up.

He could only think of that as he continued to watch the training going between the threehorn and the longneck, even though he knew that, deep inside, he was somehow cheering for the threehorn and hoping that he would be the one to win, even because of a species pride. It would be utterly humiliating for all of the threehorns in the world if a threehorn his age was defeated by a young and small longneck.

Sure, the battle went on, and the two dinosaurs continued to fight against each other, parrying and they continued to exchange blows with each other, each one showing great skill in close combat as they were showing to be both able to hold on a fight with the combination of their magic and their own physical prowess. They stumbled and danced across the battlefield as they both continued to keep up the fight and to refuse to give in.

Littlefoot used his smaller size and greater agility to stumble around Uri, swinging his horn of light to hit the threehorn in every way he could, trying to score good hits in him, and actually managing to do some. He was able to open a few wounds that leaked the crimson blood that stood out in the middle of his grey scales.

Some of the watching dinosaurs flinched, but most of them were already used to the kind of wounds that could come from these fights. The Order was not the kind that was for kidding when it came to their training, which many considered to be questionably extreme. The sights of blood were rather common in there, just as much as the bruises that could clearly look like they would be painful into the following morning. However, it was soon clear that they didn't minded these wounds, for they had the horned head, who knew how to make these wounds heal amazingly quick with her healing recipes. Also, it seemed that the members of the Order needed to be ready for this kind of training, for it was a practice for when they were about to fight these horrible monsters, they would need to be ready to survive that kind of thing, and even more to be ready to win this kind of challenge.

As Littlefoot danced around Uri and was able to score some blows at him, Uri didn't stayed behind. He flinched each time he suffered a wound, but he continued to fight with all that he could against the smaller longneck. He was able to easily follow him as he stumbled, and he was actually able to stumble a little too, as he was able to quickly and swiftly jump from one place to the other to keep up with the longneck, and he parried many blows, which was the only reason why he didn't had many more wounds. Actually, Uri was able to fight back and to score some wounds at him with his horns made of darkness. The horns were jagged, and this made the wounds slightly worse, and they were so sharp that a simply brushing into the skin of the longneck was enough to open a cut. If the threehorn was really trying to fight him to death, he would only need a very well place slash of his horns would be enough to cut off a leg or even the head of the longneck if he did hit him hard.

Littlefoot also flinched each time a wound was opened. It burned and the cuts were powerful, but Littlefoot had learned during his time in the Order to control his pain and not let it prevent him from fighting with all he got, and he was always ready to shake away the feeling of pain and not let it prevent him from giving a good fight. He knew that the Hollows would not stop to let him recover from his wounds, so he couldn't afford to have this time during the fight, and so, he needed to be able to push his body beyond his own limits, and to keep fighting even if he was in pain. As it was the case right now. His wounds were aching like crazy for they had just been opened, and he was bleeding, but he was not going to stop fighting only so he could check his own wounds and recover from the pain. This was a training for the real deal, and in the real deal he would not have this time.

They both continued to change blows and to dance together for a while, occasionally opening a wound into each other's skin. None of the wounds was too deep, though, since they both always remembered that this was not a fight to death, but just a training. Still, they didn't hesitated too much into opening wounds near to vital areas, even though they purposely avoided to open any wound that would surely be lethal. Still, Nettle was ready to intervene and to quickly act to save their lives, for in these cases, it was not rare to hear of trainings that had gone out of paws to quickly, and of members of the Order who had got seriously hurt into that and were only saved due to the quick interference of a healer.

Still, despite all of the wounds they were inflicting to each other, the two dinosaurs seemed to be far from thinking about surrendering. At a given moment, both their horns clashed, and they both gave a step back. Uri retreated a few steps while Littlefoot jumped back and landed far from him. They both continued to look at each other, with their open wounds still leaking fresh blood, and both feeling a bit tired, but not to the point in which they would be panting. Another good thing in doing this kind of training everyday was that it helped to build their stamina, making them far more resilient than others would be, as Littlefoot had found out in the first days of his trainings of the Order, once he soon was seeing himself able to withstand more than he could before with each passing day.

They looked at each other, both ignoring the stinging pain of their fresh wounds, as they seemed both to be ready to continue with their fight despite all of these blood-leaking wounds, at least until someone broke their fight before they had the chance to kill each other.

"Getting tired?" Uri asked with a smirk to the longneck. Littlefoot was able to smile back at him, and he said "I'm good… You?"

"Pretty well." Uri said, with his usual confident demeanor. "I can do this all day."

"All night, you mean?" Littlefoot asked, and Uri looked at him, wondering what he meant by that, and only then the threehorn looked around, and he saw that the Bright Circle was almost setting. Wow… they had been fighting the whole day?

But, on second thoughts, they had really started their training into a late moment of the day, but still, for them to be almost in the time of the Bright circle setting, they must have stayed in their fight for a good while, and Uri didn't even realized it. Man, time really did flew when you was having fun.

A very painful kind of fun…

Uri looked back at Littlefoot, and he said, "Sure, why not?" as he smirked and he seemed to be getting ready to charge at him again, the horns of pure blackness in his head seemed to be growing in size and becoming more jagged and more mean-looking than before, as if he was ready to take this whole "game" to a new level. Littlefoot saw this, and he seemed to be ready to take the challenge, once his own horn of light seemed opt tunr brighter and also grow longer. All the ones around tensed as it seemed that the battle was going to get more serious, and some of them were actually starting to wonder if they were going to see someone's limbs flying off the body.

However, Terry was quickly to interfere. "Okay, that is enough."

The two dinosaurs stopped what they were doing and looked at the adult bonecrusher sharptooth, who looked down at both of them as he walked near. "It is enough for just one day, you two need to treat your wounds so you can both make the patrols tonight. I don't want any of you losing to a Hollow or fainting during a battle because you were too tired to fight."

Someone who heard Terry talking these things, and with the tune he was using, would actually think that he didn't cared about the well-being of his students. However, who knew him, knew that their well-being was his biggest priority in these moments, as well as the one of anyone who was under his responsibility. Uri and Littlefoot both knew it, and they both knew that what Terry really wanted was for them to stop before they got too carried away and ended up seriously hurting each other. Besides, he was right about them needing their strength in the case of the Hollows deciding to make an attack during the night, after all, you never know.

So, with that in their minds, both dinosaurs let out sighs as their horns of magic dissolved into nothingness, and they were both back to normal, but still with cuts and gashes in their bodies, and they sting stung up. Now that the battle had ended, the two dinosaurs were feeling the pain of the wounds a little bigger than before, since now they could properly focus in it instead of the fight.

They both winced in pain as they were both walking back towards the others, and Nettle was already waiting for them with handfuls of her herbs, ready to make some medicine to help their wounds close faster, and so, they would be as new in the next morning. The wounds were all superficial, and they were not deep, as the two were able to control themselves to a certain extent during the fight, but still there were many of these cuts, and some of them were near important veins. It was amazing how none of them had actually cut a big blood line by accident, as Nettle made sure to remark as she mixed the herbs with her special poison and applied it into their wounds, making them flinch and hiss at each time the mixture made contact with their bare flesh.

Littlefoot's friends all were around him, checking out his wounds and all of them worried for seeing Littlefoot so hurt, despite the longneck continuously affirmed that he was fine and that it was nothing to worry about.

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." Uri said jokingly as he saw all the attention that Littlefoot was receiving from his friends and feeling just slightly left off. Nettle was quickly to confort him by giving him a hug in the neck, being careful not to hurt more any of his wounds; Swift simply rolled his eyes, and said something about Uri being too much of a whiner; Terry, on his side, could only chuckle about it, along with Littlefoot, since they both had grown really found into Uri's playful personality.

The other dinosaurs who watched were soon relaxing and going back to their homes as they saw that the fight had already gotten to the point where the wounds were all threated. These dinosaurs would be brand as new in the morning, and they would probably repeat what they did today. This was already starting to turn into a routine to the inhabitants of the Valley, and they were getting used to see this kind of thing, some of them were actually getting quite used to the sight of blood from the battles that they watched from the trainings. They could only image how much used to blood were the members of the Order themselves.

Mr. Threehorn also watched from his point as the others were going back to their usual spots. He continued to watch as the members of the Order stayed behind, as well as the other friends of the young longneck, and they all seemed to be now talking about less important things, like how great was the magic they had and how their wounds healed quick, and things of the like. Mr. Threehorn herself got admired by all of these stiuff, but still, it for him was also a source of worry, once he knew that the members of the Order were showing themselves to be amazingly strong, and that driving them out of the Valley, if he could convince everyone to do the same, was not going to be easy if they decided to actually fight to ensure their staying.

The old bull grunted as he already knew that there was little point into staying watching them for a while more. He already knew that he would not get any interesting or useful information from them now that their training was over, once the members of the Order most kept for themselves, and also, they seemed to have a knack for always realizing when he was nearby, almost as if they had eyes on their tails, especially the big grey sharptooth. Topps tried all that he could in the past days but he was still unable to get near him without being discovered and made fun off. Of course, he was never attacked, but they always made remarks about how he needed to train on being more furtive, and how he needed to practice more if he wanted to sneak in them without being noticed. The sailback even was very daring to say that he was way too old to be sneaking around like that… and fat.

FAT!

That was the closest moment in which Topps was of charging at him and ramming his horns into his chest only to see if he was still going to have a clever answer to give like that. Still, he knew that there was nothing that he could do about the Order and their members.

Yet.

For now, all he could do was head back and go back to his family, kiss his daughter goodnight and spend some quality time with his mate. Cera would not be there, she said earlier that she would be out during the night, to take care of "girl stuff". Topps had no idea what this meant, and he was really scared to ask Cera, for she seemed to be ready to come up with an explanation that he would most likely regret hearing.

Well, as long as she kept away from the Order and as long as she returned home early in the night, he had no problem with her being out for her "girl stuff", whatever it meant. He only knew that he had to get back home, and he was going to stay awake until Cera showed up, and if she took too long he was going to go after her. He knew that after what happened there was no way that he would leave her alone in the Valley for too long, and whatever "girl stuff" she was doing would have to be interrupted, for he was going to go there and drag her back home if she took too long.

As he left, he could get a glimpse of the old Mr. Longneck, walking in direction to the group formed by Littlefoot's friends and the Order, and he snorted. The old one was way too found on the Order for his taste. Maybe it was because his grandson was one of them, and this was affecting his judgment. Anyway, Topps knew that, once he had all the information he needed, and once he uncovered all of the secrets that the Order was trying so hard to keep hidden, not even he was going to prevent him from chasing then away of the Valley for good.

Though he was easily able to notice the big form of Grandpa Longneck going in direction to the group of dinosaurs, he failed to see another, smaller form, coming from another direction but going to the same destination. A form that moved in four legs, was yellow, and the old bull would get really pissed off if he was able to see it going in direction to that group of dinosaurs who he simply didn't trusted one bit.

* * *

As Littlefoot was talking to one friend, his sharpened senses detected something coming, and he raised his head to see the familiar shape of a big longneck coming in his direction. He smiled as he recognized him immediately. "Grandpa!" He said, and all ther other dinosaurs looked to see the approaching longneck.

"Hey! Mr. Longneck!" Said Uri as he saw the big dinosaur approaching them, smiling broadly at him. "How yah doin'?" he asked him with a smile on his face, as if he was greeting an old friend of his family. Mr. Longneck nodded at him, and he looked over to Littlefoot, to see that the young longneck had many leaves in his body, and he already knew that they were covering wounds that he had gained in the training. Seeing this kind of wound was starting to get normal to him.

And that deeply worried the old longneck.

"So… another harsh day of training?" Grandpa said to all of the, but especially to his grandson, who simply smiled back at him, as he said, "Not much more than all of the others."

Grandpa could only nod at his grandson, trying his best to look neutral at it, when the truth was that, for Littlefoot considering these kinds of wounds normal, was something that made him really worried. For it only made him wonder in what kinds of dangers Littlefoot had to pass in order for him to mature enough to see these wounds that way. He knew well that no other child his own age would be able to take wounds like that so lightly, and still, there was Littlefoot, doing exactly that, as if these wounds were not the worst thing that ever happened to his body. This kind of behavior was normally only expected into very hardened adults, who had passed most, if not all of their lives fighting for survival in harsh and dangerous places, like the mysterious beyond. It just showed that, during his time out, Littlefoot had somehow matured in a way and speed that would leave most of dinosaurs completely shocked. Even Grandpa, who had seen all kinds of strange and impressive things in his live got really surprised with the speed that Littlefoot seemed to have matured, but at the same time, he was still seeming just like a child.

That was the effect that being a part of the Order had in a dinosaur?

"Well, I just hope they heal as quickly as the other ones did." He said to his grandson, hoping that his voice would not betray the deep worry in his heart, and he seemingly was successful, for the other dinosaurs simply continued to smile at him, as if it was a very casual conversation.

"Don't worry, Mr. Longneck." Said Nettle as she stood up, "I took care of all of their wounds, and they will close during the night. They will all be fine in the morning."

"That is very good." Swift said as he simply remained with his arms crossed over his chest and his usual neutral demeanor. "So they can continue to train and to keep up the patrols for the next days. After all, they need to be in shape in case anything happens, and they need to be in their best shape if they don't want to end up as Hollow's food."

Swift was just being Swift, but he seemed not to notice that his words were really making Mr. Longneck worried, but Terry noticed it, and he was quick to intermit. "Anyway, they are fine and they are really strong., these wounds are surely nothing."

His words were directed to all, but they were particularly focused into Mr. Longneck, who could not hide his worry from the old and smart sharptooth, who had long ago learnt to see through people and to discover what they were really feeling. To him, most dinosaurs were like water, very clear and sometimes obvious, still, there were a few dinosaurs that he simply could not read. Luckily, the ancient longneck was not one of these.

Grandpa Longneck looked at him, and he was actually able to smile back. He knew that Terry was trying to make him feel better, and he knew that the sharptooth could actually make that with a few words. Even though the sharptooth was a responsible for his grandson's transformation, he was still feeling a good vibe coming from him, for the sharptooth was very sympathetic, and he was very good for everyone. Also, Littlefoot seemed to deeply trust him, as much as he trusted Chomper, and Grandpa knew that Chomper was definitely worth of that trust.

That was all enough for him to give the sharptooth a good vote of trust.

"So… since everyone is okay, what about we get going?" He asked, and all the dinosaurs around agreed with him, specially the younger ones and Nettle, who all cheered. That night, they all had agreed to make another night that they would spend with Grandpa Longneck, hearing to the old stories that he had to tell about the past and the lore of the longnecks.

Littlefoot missed these stories while he was out, and he had told about them to his fellows of the Order. Some of them were really anxious to hear about them, and these included Nettle, who always had loved a good story. Even Swift was quite curious to hear these ancient stories of the longnecks. Of course, he was not the kind that easily believed in all he heard, which included these old tales, but he still was curious to hear what were like the stories of the old retired Tale Teller had to say. Terry too was curious about it, since he had already met Tale Tellers of other species, and he had heard many interesting stories coming from them, and they all were full of amazing stories that, even if he did not believed too much himself, were very nice to hear. Tale Tellers were usually ones with very good stories to tell and to share with everyone.

As that was settled, Mr. Longneck was ready to guide them all in direction to their usual spot, a one near a small opening of fire water that would grant them warmth and light during the night for the stories that the old longneck had to share, and as they were getting ready to go, Terry turned his head back and he asked.

"You are coming too, threehorn girl?"

This surprised the ones who were with him, and they got even more surprised when they heard someone cursing very slightly as a familiar form came out of her hiding spot.

"Cera!" Littlefoot said, happy for seeing his threehorn friend again, and she looked back at him, and she was able to smile back. That warmed Littlefoot's heart, as it was good to see Cera smile at him again. And most of his friends seemed to be share his happiness, once they all were happy for seeing her.

"Cera! You came!" Petrie said, hovering slightly as he was very happy.

"We missed you." Chomper said, and Ruby also said, "You spent a lot of time seeing us, and we were missing you for since you weren't coming to see us, we also couldn't see you."

"Yeah… sorry for that, guys." Cera said, smiling to all of her friends, "My dad was not letting me see you because… you know…"

Yeah, they knew. The old threehorn still didn't trusted them, and he wanted his daughter to be as far from them as possible. Swift snorted to himself, he was getting really annoyed about the old bull. Terry, on his side, understood that the old bull was just acting like it was to be expected when he was confronted by something strange that he didn't knew. He also knew that he was only tryignt o protect his daughter. After all, she was almost killed by the Hollows days ago, and the threehorn probably still was putting the blame of this on them, saying that they had attracted the problem by coming to there.

"And he let you come?" Ducky asked to Cera, and she simply smiled as she said, "I talked to him." Terry looked to her as he said that, and he noticed certain nervousness in her. She surely talked to her father, but the bonecrushers sharptooth was able to bet that she was not truly sincere to her about what she was going to do or where she was going to go and with who she was going to be.

"Ehhhh! Cera is here too!" Nettle cheered, and she said, "Now we can all be together to hear the stories of Mr. Longneck!"

All the others around could chuckle at it, and indeed, some agreed with her. "Yeah, Mr. Longneck said he would tell us many new stories tonight! He did! He did!" And Spike mumbled in agreement with her, and Cera was able to smile back at them.

"Yeah, it seems great, but…" She said, and she approached looking at Littlefoot, "Littlefoot, can we go somewhere else first?"

"Huh?" Littlefoot said, surprised and a bit confused by Cera's request. She simply continued to look at him as he was confused in what she meant, and in why she was wanting him to go somewhere else with her.

"Is that… I found a thing that I need you to see." She said to him, and Littlefoot looked back at her for a moment, before he said, "Oh… well, sure, we can all go take a look."

"Actually…" Cera cut him off, and she said, "I'd like if we two went to see it alone."

Once more, Littlefoot got slightly surprised, and so did a few of the ones who were nearby. "We won't take very long, and we will come back soon, I promise." She said, and Littlefoot could only look back at her.

Swift stepped forward, and he said, "And, why do you want Littlefoot to go with you alone?" He asked, sounding suspicious, and Cera looked back at him, and she returned the angry look that he had in his face, and for a while, they just stared at each other's eyes, before Terry said, "Well, I don't see problem."

The ones around all looked at him, and he said, "Littlefoot has the right to go to places with his friends, if he wants, of course." He looked down at the longneck, who loomed down back at Cera, who was still looking expectantly at him. Littlefoot knew Cera, and he knew that she was trustworthy. Also, she was a good friend to him, and if she was asking him something in particular, then he had no reason to deny whatever was it that she wanted to show him.

"Yeah, sure, I can go." He said, and Cera smiled as she heard it, and she said, "Good, come with me, I'll lead the way." She said, and she turned around, and Littlefoot was soon going after her.

"Just come back before all the good stories end!" Nettle said to them as they left, and Littlefoot looked over his back to say, "We will! Don't worry!" And he continued to move in the direction Cera was leading him. Soon, the other dinosaurs turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction. Swift was the last, as he continued to look in the direction that the threehorn girl, daughter of the old bull, was taking Littlefoot, away from them. He narrowed his eyes as a near scowl formed in his face, as he was finding it to be really suspicious, and he knew that he was not the only one…

As he finally turned around to walk away, Littlefoot continued to follow Cera to whatever place was that she wanted to take him, to show whatever was that she wanted to show him. Littlefoot was not worried at all, for he was very Happy that it seemed that Cera would finally go back to talk to him normally, since she wanted him to see something, and he just didn't had any reason to think that she was plotting anything.

However, the truth was that she was.

Cera was plotting to put Littlefoot against a rock and press him until he was totally honest with her. She was tired of games, lies and half-truths. She wanted a long, ho nest and serious talk, and she was going to take it from Littlefoot even if she had to press him to the ground to get it.

She wanted answers, and she knew that the night was not going to end, for none of them both, until she finally had them…

 

 

 


	13. The Spirits and the Seven Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cera finally confronts Luttlefoot and demands answers from him.  
> Meanwhile, Terry shares with the young ones the wisdoms of the Order of Leaf and Claw, including the a story that is taught to every single one of them...

"So, what is it that you want to show me?" Littlefoot asked to Cera as she led him into the Great Valley. They had been walking for quite a while now, and Littlefoot was pretty sure that they were going into a far part of the Valley. The longneck was looking around to see parts of the Valley that he didn't normally saw, indicating that they were in a part that other dinosaurs rarely came, especially that late. The Night Circle shone above them, along with the stars that decorated the night skies, and no matter to which direction Littlefoot looked to, he could not spot other living soul around them, as Cera continued to lead them to an unknown location.

"You'll see when we get there." Cera said as she continued to lead the longneck, and all the time, she was shooting glances over her shoulder, as if she was trying to look at Littlefoot for a better angle. Littlefoot thought it to be a little strange, but he decided to ignore it, for it was his friend. However, little did the longneck knew that his threehorn friend was actually trying to look behind him, to see if any other member of the Order was following them.

She already came this far with Littlefoot, and she was not willing to take the risk of one of them ruining this.

She continued to guide Littlefoot, and now, they were going into a dense vegetation, and Littlefoot and Cera both continued to walk, with the threehorn girl in the lead, as she guided Littlefoot to a part of the Valley that Littlefoot believed that he never was before. Finally, they arrived into a wide clearing, an open space with nothing but low grass in the ground, and surrounded by thick vegetation, what protected it from outside, except if you were seeing it from the above. The light of the Night Circle casted an ethereal illumination over the place, allowing to easily see what was inside, which, at the moment, was only the grass and the two young dinosaurs.

Littlefoot looked all around the clearing, wondering if it was it that Cera wanted to show him. It was a very nice place, good if you wanted to avoid people from seeing you. But now, he was wondering just why Cera would have brought him to that place, and he looked at her.

He saw that she was walking around the clearing, looking at the vegetation form all sides, as if she was searching for something. She even looked at the sky, as if to see if there was anything into the sky, watching them from above. The longneck was now starting to get worried, as he had a sudden feeling in his gut that told him that something was strange in there.

"Cera… what is going on? Why are we here?" Littlefoot asked, and the threehorn girl continued to look around for a few more moments. She was seeing if anyone was around and had followed them.

They haven't.

Good.

She turned to Littlefoot, with a fierce expression, and she said, "Enough of these games."

The sharpness of her affirmation had caught Littlefoot off guard, and he could only stare surprised at her as she looked at him with that expression.

"C-Cera?"

"You have been hiding things from all of us Littlefoot!" Cera said, walking in his direction. "I'm done with these games you and your friends are playing, I want answers!"

Littlefoot took only one second to realize what was going on, and as he did, he felt a spark of terror grip in his heart. He knew that this day would come, the day when someone would press him to the ground and try to take the answers from him by force. He only didn't imagined that it would be Cera.

Well… okay, he did, but he didn't expected it to be so straight-forward like that.

Littlefoot was already turning away to leave, when he heard Cera scream, "Don't you dare to walk away!"

The way she screamed made the longneck stop in his tracks and look at her, and she was panting as she looked at him. In her eyes, Littlefoot could see anger and frustration, things that he was already expecting, and also sadness, what really tore up his heart. However, he saw something more, something that he didn't really expected, and that was surprising him: he saw fear.

But, it was not the kind of fear that you have when a Hollow is in front of you, it is the kind of fear that you show when you are truly concerned about someone. The fear you had when you was scared that someone near to you would get hurt, or if this person was going to leave and you were never going to see each other again.

That was the kind of fear that Cera had in her eyes, and that was unsettling to Littlefoot.

After a few moments, Cera sighed, and her expression softened a little, as she walked in direction to the longneck, until she was right in front of him. She looked deep in his eyes, and she said:

"When that thing attacked me a few nights ago, it talked to me." She was looking right in Littlefoot's eyes as she spoke it. "It said something about using me to get the one he wants… and he said that it would work, because he was my friend."

Littlefoot looked at her as she continued to explain it to him, his face a mix of several emotions that Cera was not bothering to read or identify at said moment. She continued.

"Littlefoot, that thing planned to use me to get at you. It is after you, isn't it?"

Littlefoot looked at her for a while, as if he was evaluating her, and after a while, he let out a sigh, and looked down, avoiding her gaze. Cera didn't like it.

"Littlefoot, we have been friends since forever." She said to him, in an urgent tune, and Littlefoot looked to her once again, as she continued. "Friends trust in each other, and they tell each other things, especially the important ones."

Littlefoot looked back at her, and she continued as she looked deep in his eyes, her face softening more and more. "Littlefoot, I care about it."

It was very hard for her to say these words, for they were against her usual demeanor, but still, she could not think of anything else to say but what really was in her mind. "When you vanished, I was worried, along with everyone else. I really thought, for a time, that I was never going to see you again."

Now she was fighting to hide the sadness that came from the memories of the days that Littlefoot was missing, and she continued.

"We already faced big sharpteeth in the past, and we made it. And now, if this one is after you, for whatever reason it may be, I want to at least know that you are doing what you can. I hate being left in the dark when a friend of mine is in danger!"

For a moment, the angry tune in her voice returned, and this made Littlefoot flinch slightly, and he continued to look at her as she took a deep breath, and she continued. "Littlefoot… my… my friends are all very important to me."

Littlefoot blinked as he looked at Cera. For the first time in a very long time, he was seeing her completely helpless and vulnerable. Worried with the ones who are important to her and openly admitting it, even if it was just for him. That was very out of character for her, and that was enough reason for Littlefoot to know that she was really troubled, and that the situation was really serious for Cera to have come to the point of exposing her vulnerability to him like she was doing at that same moment.

She raised her face to look at him, and her expression was a mix of firmness with worry. "Littlefoot, we are friends, and I don't believe that, after all we went through, you don't trust me enough to share something with me."

"I don't care if these other dinosaurs are threatening you for keeping their secrets, or if you think that we won't deal with it. I want answers! I want to know what is going on! I want to know if I really should be worried, and  _why_  I should be worried! Littlefoot! I…"

She stopped for a moment, and she looked deep in his eyes, and for a few moments, all of her adamant personality seemed to melt away, revealing Cera as just a little girl who was scared for her loved ones, and scared of losing them. "I want you to be honest with me."

These words were followed by a silence so deep that it was almost possible to hear the plants all around them breathing. Littlefoot only looked at Cera. His friend. Someone who he deeply cared about. Someone who he truly trusted with his own life.

Still, he had not been acting like that lately.

He had been hiding things from her and from everyone else, because he was way too worried about how they were going to react, and that was enough reason for him to feel bad about himself. However, after just hearing the extension of Cera's words, and how much she was actually suffering because of all of that situation, the burden in his heart had become almost five times bigger.

Littlefoot hated to see Cera like this. He hated the idea of being the one to cause her this kind of feeling. He hated to leave her worried and in the dark because of the worries if she was going to take the news well or not, and also, the worries about her father and how he would react if he learned everything.

Littlefoot was too tired of games, and lies and pretending. He was tired of having to play the fool to make his friends not learn what was really going on. He knew Cera. He trusted her.

He knew that he could be honest with her.

He NEEDED to be honest with her.

Right them, the worries about the Order, the reaction of the residents of the Valley and Mr. Threehorn all disappeared from his mind. All he knew was that there was a friend in front of him desperate for answers, and she needed them.

And Littlefoot too needed to give her the answers she wanted.

He was done with these games and pretending.

He needed to tell her the truth.

She deserved to know.

With a huge sigh, Littlefoot looked at the ground, wondering just how he should explain the whole situation to her. After a few moments, he decided to start from the very beginning, just like the Order did with him a while ago, when he first joined their ranks.

"Cera…" He spoke, once more raising his head to look into her eyes, and he said, "We you join the Order of Leaf and Claw, you learn a lot of things. The first of them, is about the beliefs of the Order."

Cera looked at him, wondering if now he was going to change the subject, and she was about to yell at him not to try, but, something in his expression made her stop. It seemed like he was ready to say something that was very important. So, she decided to just let him talk, for she had the feeling that he was finally going to say something to her.

"The Order has its own legends and stories." Littlefoot continued, as he looked at the sky up above, full of stars, all of them seeming to be looking back at him as he looked up at them. Some shone more than others, as if they were trying to get his attention, and Littlefoot imagined if she was one of these stars.

"There are two that are the more important." Littlefoot continued, and Cera looked up at him as he talked, "These are: the belief into the spirits, and the story of The Seven Brothers."

Cera had no idea of what any of these meant, but she had a feeling that Littlefoot was just going to tell her…

* * *

"…and that, children, was how it happened." Grandpa Longneck finished as the kids were listening to another of his stories, along with the members of the Order, as he was illuminated by the orange glow coming from the opening from which the fire water offered heat and light. The kids, and Nettle, all "ooooh"ed at the story that the elder longneck told. Terry was there, smiling as he always liked a good story, and so did Uri, who was finding it rather interesting. Swift, on his turn, seemed to be neutral as always. He had nothing against the old longneck and the story that he just told, but he himself was not very inclined to believe it, even with all of the things that he had already saw and did himself into the Order.

"This story was amazing, Mr. Longneck!" said Nettle, as marveled as the other kids due to the story that was just told to her, full of wonder and adventure, and also with a very beautiful lesson behind it. Grandpa looked down at her, and he said:

"Well, thank you, young lady." The elder said back, glad that his stories were able to make someone amazed like that, and he also was getting really enchanted by the child-like personality of the young adult. She was really a very captivating individual, and Grandpa Longneck was glad that he could share his stories with her, along with the others of the Order.

"It was a very good story, it was, it was!" Said Ducky, and Spike mumbled in agreement.

"Tell another one, please!" Said Ruby, and Petrie agreed with her.

"Yes, Mr. Longneck, your stories very good!"

Swift could not help but roll his eyes and grumble at all of them, especially at the flyer. That way he had of talking just as Littlefoot described, and it was just as annoying as Swift had first imagined. He was quickly slapped very lightly in the back of the head, a courtesy of Terry, who looked down at him as if he was telling him to not do anything. Swift realized a bit too late that his grumbling had been a bit loud.

"Come on, Swift, the story is rather good." Said Uri nudging him slightly on the side, and Nettle too said something:

"Yeah, it is like the stories of the Order!"

As soon as she said that, the other ones got interested.

"The Order has its own stories?" Chomper asked, looking the dinosaurs, and they all looked back at Nettle, as if she had spoken a bit too much. Terry, however, remained calm and smiled at them, as he said.

"Indeed, as a group that has existed for a very long time, the Order of Leaf and Claw has a lot of stories of its own. We have stories about our past, about our struggles, about our challenges, about great feats done by past members, and about great accomplishments that were made in the past. After all, we are a very diversified group, and we have existed for a very long time, it make sense that we would have our own share of stories to tell to all of our youngest members."

"Ohhh! That is so cool!" Chomper said, getting excited about it, and so did the other ones.

"Tell a story of the Order, please!" Ducky asked, already imagining that a story of the Order was surely one full of magic and wonder.

"Yes, the stories of the Order surely are great stories to hear if you get the chance to hear the stories." Ruby said.

"Me wanna hear stories about magic flyers!" Petrie said, floating near Ruby's head, and even Mr. Longneck got interested in it. He already heard many stories of Story Tellers of other species, and he was sure that the stories of a group as interesting as the Order would be some that would be very interesting to hear.

Terry looked at all the faces asking at him for a story, and after thinking for a while, Terry decided that it would not hurt to tell them. He them said, "Well, there is a lot of stories that I could tell you all about, but, I guess that for you to understand most of our more important stories, I would have to start from the very beginning."

"Huh! Terry is going to tell about the Spirits!"

"Spirits?" Chomper said, and Terry smiled at him.

"Yes young one. The Spirits." Terry said, and he looked at all the ones who were looking at him and that didn't knew that story yet, which were the ones who did not belonged to the Order of Leaf and Claw.

"I guess that you all already have age enough to understand the concept of death, ain't I right?" And all the young dinosaurs nodded, and Terry continued, "Have you ever wondered what happens to you after you die? And I'm not talking about what happens to your body, I'm talking about what happens to your mind, your memories, your own existence, about everything you are."

The young dinosaurs all shared a look, and Terry continued. "Every living creature has a spirit, a force made out of pure life that gives it will and identity, which makes a living being be a living being. This life energy, gathered and having an identity, is called a 'spirit', a force that has identity and its own will."

"In the beliefs of the Order, we believe that, once the physical body dies, the spirit of the deceased continues to live, and it ascends in order to watch the world from above. We, from the Order of Leaf and Claw, believe that the spirits of all the ones who lived before are still existing, and that they are all watching for us."

"We believe that they are the ones who move the world, and they are behind many, if not all of the events that happened into the world around us." Terry talked, and while this, he slightly projected his waist forward, to let the amulet in it be illuminated by the light of the opening, "And they are the responsible for our amulets."

"Really?" Chomper asked, and Terry nodded at him.

"Yes, young one, we believe that the Stones of Cold Fire, from which our amulets are made, are a gift from the spirits, a manifestation of their will into our world, and a gift of magic to the ones seen by them as worthy of taking part on the Order's mission."

"How do they know who is worthy?" Chomper asked, and Terry smiled dwon at him before answering.

"The spirits are always watching over this world, and over all the ones who live in it. Once they join the spirits, they elevate to a place in which they know many more things, secret things, things that we mortals would have no way of knowing. Some even say that they know the future. The Spirits are wise, and they already showed many times that they know better than us what is going to happen."

"Ohhhhh!" The young ones all said, and Nettle was smiling, "I love when he tells all of that." Mr. Longneck too was enjoying this story. It was a very interesting concept, and it actually fit with the beliefs that he had been taught ever since he was old enough to understand the concept of death. It was a very good story, and it was being a very interesting thing to hear.

"That is great!" Ruby said, amazed by the story, and Terry chuckled at her, and he said, "Yes, it is a very interesting thing, isn't it? We, from the Order, believe in the spirits, and in all that they do and plan for the world and for us. We follow them, and honor them. We trust into their knowledge to guide us, and we trust that they have great plans for all of us, both leaf eaters and sharpteeth." He looked at each one of them, including Chomper, and he smiled, "We all have a purpose in the world, that the spirits have decided for us." He finished, and the kids all looked at him amazed.

"This is very important, for many of our stories revolve around the spirits." Said Terry, a she looked down at the children, and soon, they were wanting more.

"Tell another story, please!"

"Yes! I wanna hear another one, yep, yep yep!"

"Hmhmm!"

Terry looked down at them, all of the wanting to hear more stories. Who was he to deny it to them? Terry was now thinking about what story to tell the young ones. There were many that he remembered, but some of them were quite complicated, and they would involve a lot more of explanation to the young ones. After a while, he had decided for another story that was also the base of the foundation of the Order of Leaf and Claw. One that was very important and taught to the ones who entered into the Order to explain to them the importance of their job and of what they did.

"Well, there is another story I can tell you." He said to the young ones, and he completed: "It is the story of the Seven Brothers."

Nettle perked her head, and Swift let out a loud coughing sound, clearing his throat. Terry looked down at him, and gave him a look that said, " _I know what I'm doing._ " And he turned back to the kids. "This is a story that talks about the main goals of the Order, and the reason why we exist."

The kids got really interested, and Terry looked at them as he continued, "Well, this story starts a long, long time ago, before any of your ancestors could probably remember…

* * *

_…Long ago, the whole world was different. This world was a world in that all the dinosaur species had not appeared yet, so it was very different. This was a world with the sweet air in winch you could even smell the peace._

_This was a place where there was beauty, with the great mountains and the fields full of life. But it was too a place of danger were you could die in a quicksand or in a fall from a cliff. In this place, lived a happy family composed of seven brothers. They all looked the same, walking in two legs, two front legs that used for support and as hands, one horn in the tip of the nose, and flat teeth, great for eating the plants they loved so much. But they could eat actually anything, but they would always have plants._

_They all lived together, each one with his' own dreams and goals for the future. They were a happy family, and they would always stand for and care for each other, just like brothers were always supposed to do._

_One fateful day, when they were eating in the field, came a great light from the sky, making a light pillar. The brothers were startled by this. The younger of them, the smaller and most timid, quickly jumped behind a rock to hide and stayed there. Then was this powerful, resonant voice that was hard to tell if it was male or female. " **Do not fear, my sons. We are the spirits. The entities made by the spirits of your ancestors and the ones that lived before. We're admired as you all did so well in the world. So we'll give at each one of you a prize. Tell what you want and be not afraid of being laughed at.** "_

_The brothers were hesitant at first, but soon one of them, the oldest, stepped forward and talked to the Great Spirits. He had always loved the leaves that grew on top of the trees, for they were his favorite food. However, overtime, the trees had become higher and higher, as if they were trying to reach for the Sky Circle, and they had become far too high for him to reach, unless he tried to climb into the trees. He had to limit himself to eat the fallen leaves, but they lacked the greenness and the taste of the pure leaves straight from the tops of the trees. So, he knew what kind of wish he could make. "I always wanted to reach in the highest trees to eat the best leaves on top of them." The spirits smiled at him and said "So this will be." So, the spirits all called for the Night Circle and she looked down at the elder brother, and started to sing. This song reached the brother and touched him like nothing had ever touched before. Under that beautiful song, the brother started to change._

_The other ones watched in amazement as their brother's body started growing bigger, as his paws becoming firmer and stronger, planting themselves definitely on the ground. His body became bigger and more powerful. His tail elongated. His horn sunk on his nose and his neck stretched, as if it was moving higher in the air to be able to reach the voice of the Night Circle. When it was over he was completely different. He looked down at his brothers, now way shorter than him._

_"B-brother?" one of them asked. The great creature smiled at him "Yes" he said as he examined his new body "But now you may call me Longneck."_

* * *

"Wait a minute!" Cera said, interrupting Littlefoot's story. "Your grandpa already told us the story about the origin of longnecks, and it was a different one!"

Littlefoot looked at her, and he said, "Yeah, but the stories are similar, right?"

Yeah, Cera was forced to agree with it, for the sequence of events that he had described till now in the story was indeed very similar to the one that Grandpa Longneck had already told them. Still, there were some key-differences that made it be different from the story that she had heard.

"The stories both describe the same event." Littlefoot said, explaining it to the threehorn as she looked up at him. "I found it a bit strange when they first told me that, but I grew used to the idea after a while, and I understood what the story meant. They might be different, but their essence is the same, the origins of the longnecks, and also, other origins."

He looked at her as he let her absorb the information that was given to her, before he asked, "So… can I continue with the story?"

Cera looked at him, and she said, "Yeah, sure. If this really has a point."

Littlefoot looked at her, and he said, "It has, please, listen." And so, he continued telling the story that the Order had taught him:

* * *

_…The Great Spirits then smiled by seeing how satisfied the first of the brothers was, and asked, " **May the next one step forward."**_

_Then the second brother stomped forward, he was far the bravest of them all. The Great Spirits then asked " **What is your wish my son?** " The second brother was the most stubborn and the most aggressive of them. Despite their world being beautiful and peaceful, there were still dangers in there, and so, the second brother always was one to stand up and to fight the danger head-on, and so, he wanted to be stronger, strong enough to face any challenge that could appear before him. So, he gave the spirits his answer: "I want the ability to fight. I want qualities that allow me to defeat even the greater of the enemies." With that said, the Great Spirits them called for the Bright Circle, and this one shone his light and his power over the second brother, and as he did, his body started to change._

_He became larger and more muscular. He didn't become as large as his brother, but he turned out a respectable size. He too turned a four-legged; and two new, long horns sprouted from his forehead. Soon it was over and he inspected his new form. "You may call me Threehorn now."_

_Soon the next brother stepped in. He too knew that the world was dangerous, and he knew that he would, sometimes, be forced to fight in order to survive and to protect the rest of his brothers, so, he knew that he needed to be strong too, enough to protect the ones he loved, so he already knew what he wanted, and so, he said "I want to have a strong body too. But I don't want to be like Threehorn, I want something that allows me to protect myself if someone attacks me, and to ensure that I'll be able to protect my brothers if they ever need me." With that said, the Great Spirits smiled at the protective nature of the third brother, and they called for the powers of the nature, which surrounded the third brother, and as the energy of the earth and the plants themselves flowed into his body, he started to change._

_He too become a four-legged for good, and his horn on his nose to disappeared, but this time, plates grew on his back, as four bone spikes formed in the tip of his tail, like the thorns of a bush. He inspected the newly formed body, specially the tail, and informed to his brothers "You can call me Spiketail."_

_It wasn't long before the next one stepped in. He was a free spirit, and he was wild and determined, and he always had loved to run free, and he usually was the one that always went first during all of their travels, to ensure that his brothers would be ready for the dangers that laid ahead of their way, and so, he already was making the wish he had: "Sires, I always wanted to run fast. I want to run faster than I ever was able before." With that said, the Great Spirits called for the powers of the fire, with its quick flames, and they flowed into the body of the fourth brother, making him change like his brothers before him._

_Unlike his brothers, his body bent in a way that now he was a two-legged, his legs become more prominent and stronger, his fore-members become thin. In his face appeared a strong, toothless beak, and feathers sprout from several places in his body, all red like the flames that made him change. When it was over he inspected his new body and made a test. He ran around faster that he had ever ran before, the flames inside of him having made him swift and quick just like they were, and he didn't got even a bit tired. He stopped close to his brothers "I'm Fast Runner"_

_Then the next brother stepped forward. This one was one that loved the water. He loved the rivers and lakes and he loved the feeling of the water on his body. He loved the feeling of being weightless into the water, and to act as if he was a part of it. However, he could not move well in the water, for his body was not made for this kind of thing, but he knew that he wanted too, just like the finned creatures that moved across the water. "I wish I could swim better and in deeper waters, but without losing my connection with the ground." He said to the Great Spirits, and they smiled down at the young one, and called forth the power of the waters, and asked them to embrace the young one and accept him in their realms. So, the young one started to change._

_He became a two-legged, like his brother, but bigger. He inspected his new body and tested by swimming in the lake. He was able to move in the waters skillfully, like he never did before, and he would hold his breath for a long time. The waters really embraced him and welcomed him in their realms. When he got back in the dry land he said "Call me Swimmer"_

_Then it was the turn of the next brother. This one was a dreamer, and he was the one who dreamed bigger than all of the brothers, often getting lost in his thoughts and letting his mind wander free through the most amazing things, and one of that was a very frequent one, so frequent that it became his dream. He stepped forward, but hesitated in talking. What if the spirits said that it was impossible? What if they thought of him a fool and laughed at him for having such an impossible wish? " **So, young one?** " The spirits asked "What is your wish?" He then spoke "I... I wish I could move free on the sky." He expected the spirits to say that was no way of that happening, or even laugh at him, but instead they only said " **So it will be.** " And with that said, the Great Spirits called for the four winds, and so, they all surrounded the young one, raising him from the ground and carrying him in the air, as they made his body change._

_His body became thinner and lighter, as his tail shrunk until it almost vanished. The horn on his nose disappeared as his muzzle elongated and turned into a beak, and his forelimbs become arms, with a membrane connecting them to the torso. When it was over he inspected in amazement at his new body. Then, the winds stopped carrying him, but he flapped his new wings, hovering over the ground, so he took to the skies, flying around his brothers. He let out a content laugh. Then he landed on Longneck's head and said "From today on, my name is Flyer."_

* * *

"Woooooaaaah!" The kids all said as they heard this story, bit by bit. They all were getting increasingly interested into the story that was being told, including Mr. Longneck. It was an amazing to hear another story that revealed the origins of longnecks, and that also linked it to the origins of many other species.

Terry chuckled as he saw all of their expressions, since it was clear that they were all really interested into the story. "Yes, this is an amazing tale, isn't it? You see, I the Order, we have the belief that we all are equal into the eyes of the spirits. This story explains exactly why."

He looked at all of his listeners, and he said, "Longneck, Threehorn, Spiketail, Fast Runner, Swimmer and Flyer were the first ones of their species. All the longnecks, horned creatures, two leggers, swimmers and fliers are all descendants of each one of them. Since they were all brothers, it makes sense to believe that all dinosaurs who live today are like cousins, a big family."

"Ohhhhh." Said the young ones, and Nettle too was very happy with this story, and Uri also smiled to himself. Even Swift allowed himself a small smile, but it changed when Petrie asked, "But… what about last brother?"

The ambient suddenly became a little grimmer for the members of the Order, as if that topic was a difficult one to be discussed, and Terry simply sighed, and he continued: "Well, since the story already started, I might as well go to the end."

* * *

_…The spirits saw that the brothers were happy with their new forms, so they departed. That was when the younger brother came out of the hiding "No, wait!" He had been hiding the whole time, watching in amazement as his brothers were changed to be able to fulfill his wishes. But he had forgotten that he needed to be seen by the spirits to have his wish fulfilled. But now was too late, they were gone. His head dropped._

_Flyer, feeling his brother's sadness, flew to his side and put a hand on his shoulder "Don't worry." He comforted "I'm sure that when they perceive that they forget about you they will came back to give you a wish." His brother tried to smile at him, but the moment quickly was ruined by Threehorn "Why would they bother?"_

_Swimmer turned to his brother "Threehorn, how can you say something like this?" "Because is truth." was threehorn blunt answer "He has always been the smaller and weaker of us. He always got into trouble and we always had to save him. He would be nothing without us; maybe that was why the spirits didn't give him something. And even if they had he would probably still being the smaller and weaker of us."_

_That was all the younger brother could take. He ran away crying. Fast Runner was about to go after him, but Longneck intermitted "No, he is to sad now to speak with anyone. Just let him alone to calm down, he will come back." Then he turned to Threehorn "And we are going to have a talk."_

* * *

"So.., the younger brother was a cry-baby, right. I still don't get the point of you telling me all of this." Cera said, starting to get annoyed by the story. She was listening to something that sounded more like a session of education with Mr. Thicknose than a direct answer that she had been wanting from the longneck.

Littlefoot tensed a little when she made that commentary about the younger brother, and he said, "He was really sad with what Threehorn had told him, and he was feeling dejected. That was the main reason of what happened soon after." He said, and he talked as if it was something that was really serious.

Cera got a little taken back, since she had, only in very rare occasions, saw Littlefoot with such seriousness over something, and seeing him like that over a story made her believe that the story was really something very important.

So, she decided to remain silent, and let Littlefoot continue with the story that he was telling, which he did:

* * *

_The younger brother ran away from the others until a part that they normally would not go. He went inside a cave and lay there, crying. He would never guess that going in that cave would change his life forever._

_While he cried, a dark smoke started to lure from inside the cave to around him, then it came those strange voices " **What is wrong little one? Why are you crying?** " The younger brother looked up to see the black smoke all around him, but he was far too sad and angry to be scared "Because the spirits gave presents to all my brothers, and I was left out. And like it was not enough one of them told me that it was because I didn't deserve anything."_

_The black smoke them swirled around him and said " **Oh, how sad little one. But don't worry. We think that you deserve something, so we will grant you a wish. What would you like?** " The younger then though for a few moments, he could ask anything his brothers had asked for, or even more, but his thoughts went back to Threehorn and what he had said, the words that had stung him hard into the heart, and that seemed to be the true opinion of Threehorn on him, ad it could very well be the opinion of the rest of his brothers, but they were only too good to say it aloud, then he made his decision "I want to be powerful! I want the power to fight and defeat my enemies! I want to be feared by the others! I want the power to be considered the strongest and most powerful of all my brothers, so they will all see me as someone and respect me! And I want the power to make Threehorn shallow his words!" The black smoke then said " **So it you shall have.** " And so, the smoke swirled around the younger brother, entering in his body by his nostrils, mouth and eyes, and it started to change him from inside out._

_A terrifying change._

_His body started to grow and become most muscular, as his feet planted on the ground and his arms shrunk until they were really small. His legs become more muscular, along with his whole body. Then the definitive: his feet and hand claws and his teeth all become pointed and sharper than Threehorn's horns or Spiketail's spikes. Soon it was over, and he inspected his new body. Then the black smoke said: " **There is what you wanted. Now go for your brothers and show what you can do. Show them that now you are the strongest of them all, and make them recognize you as so and bow down to your will.** "_

_The younger brother grinned and followed to outside, heading towards where he last saw his brothers. As he left, the dark smoke, which were the evil spirits, all smiled to themselves._

* * *

"Wow…" Chomper said as all of his friends looked at Terry, from the story that he was telling them. BY the way it was going, it was clear that it was showing one more origin in this story. Terry looked at them, and he sighed, in fact, the next pats of the story were worse, and he knew that he had to share this information with the young ones.

"Yes… the younger brother also changed, and once he did, it also changed his own name." He looked at them with a grim expression in his face, "His new name was Sharptooth."

There was a heavy silence as everyone absorbed this new information. After a while, Ruby asked, "You said that the black smoke that changed him were evil spirits and they were the smoke that changed him?"

"Yes, young one, I did."

"But… didn't you said that the spirits were nice?" Asked Chomper, and Terry looked down at the smart young sharptooth, and he sighed, as he spoke.

"Not all spirits are good, just like not all dinosaurs are good." He looked at the kids as he spoke that. "There are two kinds of destiny that a spirit can have after the physical body perishes. If the dinosaur was good during life, be it a leaf eater or sharptooth, then the spirit moves on and ascends, joining the spirits of our ancestors and becoming a enlighten spirit, looking for the world and protecting it."

"However, if this dinosaur was evil during its life, with an existence filled with cruelty, hate, envy and prejudice, the spirit is instead forced to go into a much darker place." He continued, having a very grim expression as he spoke that, and all the kids looked at him as he spoke that. Petrie and Nettle were hugging it other, getting increasingly scared by the story that the path it was taking.

"This place to which the evil spirits are taken, is one of suffering and punishment for their actions during their time among the living. It is a place that is beyond any word that could describe it, and is a place that every spirit instinctively fears." He continued, and he looked at the young ones, as he continued to share this information. "However, some evil spirits are able to escape this fate. They do not repent from the acts they did in life, but instead, they simply find a way of running and hiding to avoid being taken in there, and they remain hidden in the darkest parts of the world. These spirits, when gathered together, are able to form an evil force. The envy, hade, jealousy and arrogance that moved them in life becomes a deep hatred for the good spirits and the living creatures that are descendants of them. As a result, they are drive by a desire to create chaos, disgrace and destruction at each chance they get, usually taking advantage of the ones who are vulnerable and using them as tools of their own evil doings. Like they did with the younger brother."

"Oh, this is so horrible!" Ducky said, and Nettle nodded in agreement. She got scared every time that she heard that part of the story, and Uri and Swift also had grim looks in their faces, for they both knew the seriousness of that, and they both, like many others, prayed and hoped that they would never be in a similar situation.

"They took advantage of his sadness and of his anger, and they make it grow into spite and fury." Terry continued, "And that was what lead to the following events, which would forever change the fate of Sharptooth, and of all of his descendants."

* * *

_Back in the field, the others were waiting for their brother to return. They were starting to get worried. Longneck had a serious talk with Threehorn about what he had said to their younger brother, and they were going to continue this talk when he arrived. Then they heard stomping in their direction. They turned around and saw that a creature that they never saw before was heading towards them. And it looked not friendly._

_Threehorn and Spiketail quickly took fighting poses in front of the creature. But they were surprised when it spoke with a familiar voice "My, my, this is a way of welcoming you sibling back?" The others were shocked by this "Brother?" The creature smiled "Yes my brothers, but my name is Sharptooth now."_

_"What happened to you?" asked Swimmer. Sharptooth smiled, flashing his sharp teeth to all of them see "I found someone who made me the strongest of us all, that's what happened. And now, you can bow down to me."_

_"Are you insane?" asked Threehorn "There is no way we are going to do such a thing." Sharptooth then snarled angry at him "Do it or I'll kill you."_

_The others were shocked by hearing this. This thing was really their brother? Their shy, gentle, kind brother whom would never do anything to hurt anyone?_

_"Brother, did you heard what you just said?" asked Longneck "This doesn't sound like you. You were not serious right?" Sharptooth snarled at him "And you stay out of this. This is between me and Threehorn." He then turned back at him "So brother, you will bow down to me and see me as your superior?"_

_Threehorn laughed at him "Make me." Then it was, Sharptooth charged at him with teeth bared. Threehorn tried to counter with his horns, but Sharptooth, who had become swift too, dodged the charge and plated a foot on his brother's flank, pinning him to the ground._

_"So, Threehorn, what was that again of me being weak?" That was all Sharptooth said before roaring and biting down at Threehorn's hide. He screamed as the sharp teeth dug in his skin. Sharptooth would had held on stronger if he had not received a blow that made a wound on his flank, making him roar in pain as he let go. He then turned to see Spiketail, who had used his spikes to attack him and let him go of Threehorn._

_"You dare to interfere!?" He screamed as he lunged at Spiketail, but he was not able to make contact with him, as his side as his by a powerful tail blow from Longneck. Sharptooth reeled in the ground until stopping. He got up coughing and looked at Longneck with a murder shine in his eyes. He was about to say something when he felt something hit him in the face, it was Flyer pecking his nose. Sharptooth clawed trying to hit him, but missed all._

_"Brother, stop this!" Longneck screamed "This is not you!" But Sharptooth roared louder "I'll kill you all!"_

_He was about to charge again, but in this moment the sky darkened and a thunderous voice screamed " **STOP!** " It made everyone stop on their tracks, it were the spirits again._

_"You!" said Sharptooth "What are you doing?" The spirits answered angry " **We should be asking this to you, Sharptooth! With what right do you think you can rule or attack your own brothers?** "_

_"With the right that you took away from me!" He snarled at the sky "I was the only one left without anything. All the others gained their gifts, but I was left out!" The spirits spoke again " **Sharptooth, do you know why we left without giving you your gift?** " Sharptooth answered, "Yes, because you thought that I deserved nothing!" Then the spirits answered " **No! It was because we wanted you to discover that you deserved!** "_

_Sharptooth's eyes widened "What?"_

_" **You always were the smaller of the brothers, and always had to be saved. But yet you always got a strong will and a strong spirit, and a kind heart.** " The spirits said to him " **And for those traits you deserved a wish like all your brothers. But you didn't realize that you were really strong, like all your brothers did, so we decided wait to you discover this to give you your gift.** " Sharptooth was speechless for a few moments, and then the spirits spoke again " **But look what you have done. You accepted a gift from dark, evil spirits, and used this gift to try taking your own brothers' lives.** "_

_Just in this moment Sharptooth seemed to realize what he had just done. With horror in his eyes he noticed that he had really tried to take the life of his own family. He saw their looks of fear towards him, and he saw Threehorn's wounds made by his teeth, and he realized, terrified, that he could still feel the taste of his blood in his mouth. Then the spirits spoke again " **You tasted of the blood and flesh from your brother, now from now on you, while you walk among the living, you will have to eat flesh to survive.** "_

_"No!" Screamed Sharptooth "Please, I'm sorry!" He pleaded them, but the spirits were relentless " **From now on if you want to live you will kill and eat other creatures! Now go, leave this place now Sharptooth!** "_

_The poor Sharptooth, once again leaved crying, letting his brothers behind as he ran away, now having to face the world alone._

* * *

"Wow…" Cera said, now starting to get the meaning of that story. According to it, the first sharptooth got crazy because the evil spirits messed with his head. He believed that he should be respected by everyone else and he tried to force it on others, but he paid the price.

"So, that is why..?"

"The reason why sharpteeth have to hunt and kill in order to live." Littlefoot completed. "It all started in there, with the seven brothers and the younger one, who was seduced by the promises of the evil spirits."

Cera remained silent, almost respectfully silent, as she digested all of that information, and she thought about what it truly meant. After a while, she said, "I guess I understand why this story is important to you and the Order, but I still don't see what this has to do with what is happening now."

Littlefoot looked at her, and he sighed, before continuing. "This is what I'm going to explain now." He looked at Cera dead in the eye, "Because there is one last part of the story, and this one is the most important."

Cera remained silent as Littlefoot started to tell her the last part of the tale:

* * *

_A long time had passed since the fight, and now, Sharptooth was far away. Next to him was a carcass of a recently made kill, his face and claws stained with dried blood. He looked to the side to a tree. Hesitantly he tried a bite of its leaves. It tasted horrible! He quickly spat up and went to lick the carcass to get hide of the taste. In this moment he realized that he would never be able to eat plants again, so he would never be able to live in peace with his brothers again, it if they would ever consider forgiving him. He then started to cry again, despair getting a heavy, cruel grip in his heart, as the hopes for the future disappeared from him. That was when he heard someone call him "Brother."_

_Sharptooth turned away to face his six brothers. They were all facing him, but they didn't seemed angry, they seemed to be sad, well, except for Threehorn, that seemed indeed angry. "Brother." Longneck spoke "We came here to talk." Sharptooth looked at him, and then turned his look away "I'm sorry." He said crying "My behavior was inexcusable. If you want to scream at me and say that you don't want to see me ever again I'll understand."_

_Threehorn seemed about to say something, but a quickly glance from Longneck silenced him. Then he spoke "Sharptooth, we came here to say that is everything okay." Sharptooth looked at him "What?" Longneck sighed and said to him "Brother, you were sad and angry, and so you acted without thinking. It wasn't really your fault."_

_Sharptooth looked at them "But... I tried to kill you." Fast Runner so spoke "Yes, and so? You are still our brother." Flyer than landed on his nose "No matter what happens, good or bad, you are still being our little brother." So it was Swimmer turn to talk "We lived too much together to let something like this to do us apart." Then Spiketail then said "Yes, we are a still a family." Then they all turned to Threehorn, who sighed and said "Yes, I think we are still relatives after all."_

_Sharptooth looked at his brothers. He never knew that his family cared so much about him. He never knew. And neither did the spirits, as they said from the sky " **You are willing to forgive your brother, even after all that happened?** " Five of them answered "Yes" Threehorn took a few moments, but he too said "Yes" The spirits considered this and asked "Sharptooth, you really regret your actions?"_

_"Yes, I do!" He said without a moment of hesitation "Can I go back to eat plants?" He asked hopeful, but the spirits answered sadly " **It's not that simple. We cannot undo what is done.** " Sharptooth lowered his head in sadness " **But, we can tell you that, we can work for the future, for your descendants to be able to live in peace with one another. With our help, and yours when you join us here, this can happen.** " and so the spirits left once again, leaving the brothers alone._

_Sharptooth looked uncertain at his brother "So, what happens now?" Longneck sighed "I guess that we are now follow each one our way." Sharptooth's eyes widened "But, if you leave I will be alone, and I don't want it!" Longneck smiled at him "We cannot protect you forever. You have your own legs, now use them to walk."_

_And with that they turned around, but sharptooth had one last question "And if we meet again?" Longneck turned slightly to look at him "You are always going to be our brother. And someday our descendants will play, laugh and live together like we used to. It may not be soon, but it will happen. We will always be a family" He then turned away to leave along with the other six, leaving Sharptooth alone, but he was not crying anymore, in fact, he was smiling. Even if the future was uncertain, even if he knew that his new fate was to take away lives in order to sustain his own, his heart was far lighter now._

* * *

"… and this, is the tale of the Seven Brothers." Terry finished, and all the young dinos looked at him, with a mix of sadness and wonder.

The story itself was a sad one. It was about a brother who was forced to go away from his family because of a thing that happened, and who got fooled by someone and got punished because of it.

Still, in the end, the story had a bit of hope, because of the promise that the brothers made. It was still sad, though. Terry noticed the sadness in their faces, and he said, "Sharptooth was cursed because of his actions, and this curse spread to all of his descendants, and that is the reason why nowadays, all sharpteeth need to eat meat to survive."

Chomper looked down at that, he felt really sad because of that story. "This is not fair." He said, and Terry looked at him, and he sighed. "I know, young one." The older sharptooth said, and Chomper looked up at him, and Terry looked at him as he said, "The Order itself is said to have been created only a few generations after the seven brothers, and we lived up to their promise: of one day their descendants all being a great family, and living together in peace and harmony. This is what guides us."

Chomper looked up at him, and Terry continued, "Even though there are some who don't want this dream to come true, we still fight for it, for it is a beautiful dream, and also a very good one. That is why we will still fight to make the world be a place where leaf eaters and sharpteeth can all be friends."

Chomper looked up at him, and he was actually able to smile, and this made terry smile too.

"It is indeed a beautiful dream." Grandpa Longneck said to him as he had indeed been amazed by that story that was told. It was a very interesting one to know and to remember in the future, even to share with other young ones. Terry looked at him, and he simply nodded at the longneck.

"Well, who wants to hear another story from Mr. Longneck?" Terry asked, and the kids all agreed with it, still, they all were going to do anything but forget the story that was told to them.

* * *

"… this is it. This is the whole story." Littlefoot said, and Cera could do nothing more than look slaw-jacked and wide-eyed at him.

This was… wow… if it was true, then… wow… and it meant… wow… and it also meant that… WOW!

Now that Cera knew that, she understood the reason behind it all. It all made the most perfect sense! In a rather strange way… Still, it explained everything, and it also explained why Littlefoot and the order were so interested in keeping it a secret.

Imagine what other dinosaurs would do if they found out… She shuttered at thinking into what her father could possibly think about doing if he found out about that. She looked at Littlefoot, and he said, "Do you understand why we kept it secret? We can't take the risk."

Cera looked at him, and for the first time in the past days, she could truly see Littlefoot's point of view, and truly understand him.

"I… yes. Yes, I understand." She said, and she really meant it, and she added, "And I think you should still keep the secret. At least for now."

This took Littlefoot a little off guard, and she added, "Just until we know that everyone can take it well, and you can have this situation all shorted out." Her words were one of support, and Littlefoot smiled at her, and she was able to smile back, she looked at the Night Circle, and she said:

"Well, I better get back to my nest, dad will not be happy if I take too long to arrive home." She said, and she smiled at Littlefoot as she left. She was going to have a lot to think about that night, but still, she somehow felt relieved.

And so did Littlefoot, as he watched his friend go off back to her home. He felt as if a big weight had been lifted from his back, and after she was gone, Littlefoot remembered that he too had another place that he should be going before anyone got too worried about him.

* * *

Littlefoot arrived just as his Grandpa had chosen another story to tell the young ones. Littlefoot even asked what he lost when he was gone, and his friends told him that Terry had told them about the seven brothers. This gave Littlefoot a lightly scare, but Swift subtly placed a paw on his shoulder blade and whispered to him.

"It was a lighter version. Only what they needed to know."

Littlefoot nodded just as subtly at him, as he and his friends all got ready to hear another story of his Grandpa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story used here for the Seven Brothers was inspired by "The Five Brothers: The Creation of Sharpteeth", by FireChildSlytherin5


	14. Friendship and Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Littlefoot and Swift are spending time training, when some not so friendly figures appproach Chomper. The members of the Order get into more acquitences with the otther residents of the Valley, and Mr. Threehorn has an interesting contact with one of them.  
> Meanwhile, in another place, the enemy plots his next move...

Littlefoot stood in the middle of the clearing, as he closed his eyes and focused deeply His amulet shone around his neck as the longneck could feel the energy flowing over his body. It was his magic. The gift of the Spirits themselves to him and for every member of the Order for them to achieve their goal, the goal to make the world a good place for all the living beings to live together in peace and harmony.

_The energy is part of you_. Littlefoot thought as his amulet glowed and emanated that familiar feeling into his body.  _The energy comes from your heart and it flows all over you. It is a part of you like your own blood._

Littlefoot breathed in and held, as the energy flowed over his body, and focused in the area of his belly. He exhaled and held, as he felt the energy moving away from his belly to be focused into other parts of his body, moving over him like the fast water moved on its track, under the command of the longneck's thoughts.

_The magic is yours, the magic is you. The magic is yours, the magic is you._  Littlefoot continued to mentally repeat that mantra that they taught him, and that was created purposely to help the newbies to learn to focus and control the power of their magic, and that Littlefoot learned to hold onto when he was having troubles with his magic.

Littlefoot focused the energy into the part of his body that he wanted, and he breathed in again, as he focused the energy into that area, and as a result, that area shone brightly with the power of Littlefoot's Light Magic. Littlefoot then once more breathed out, and the light that focused in that area of his body started to project itself out, and it started to take shape according to the will of the longneck.

_Yes. That is right. Now, just keep it steady and give it the form you want…_

For a moment, it seemed that the light would take a coherent and well-defined shape, but soon, Littlefoot started to have problems.

The light started to become harder to control, and it started to move as if it had a will of its own. Littlefoot struggled mentally with all of his might, as he tried to control the light that was flowing. However, it was like trying to command the flow of fast water, and it was becoming harder and harder to do.

The light cumulated itself and inflated like two bubbles, and Littlefoot was still trying to control it, but it was fruitless. After a few moments, the bubbles of light finally reached a point that they could not hold themselves in place anymore. Just like bubbles, thy busted and liberated dots of light everywhere. Some of them dissipated into air without causing damage, but some of them actually moved away fast and powerfully, hitting trees, stones and the ground around the longneck, causing damage to it and making pieces of them explode around. One of said dots of light just happened to hit the branch of a nearby tree, making it explode.

Many dinosaurs would be scared y seeing this, especially if their own heads were very close to said branch. Swift, however, was not even surprised by this situation. He simply looked to his side to see the exploded branch, and he looked back at the longneck, which was panting as he recovered from the session that he was having.

"That is a very nice trick." Swift said, what surprised Littlefoot, who had been way too focused to see or feel the sailback approaching hm. "If you were actually trying to do it."

Littlefoot sighed, and he said, "I almost did it this time." He sounded very determined as he said it, "I could practically feel them forming and I just needed to focus a little more so I could actually make them materialize. I know that if I try once more-"

"Then you will probably boom the whole forest." Swift said quickly, looking at the young longneck, which looked back at him. "Boy, you might be a prodigy, but you can't expect to only focus in the thing you want for long enough will make you be able to do it perfectly. You think that Terry was able to actually manage to do all of his techniques right from the first time he made them? He had to practice for a very long time, just like most of us."

Littlefoot knew that Swift was right. Putting your own techniques to the point where they will be useful could take several night circle cycles, maybe even years, depending on the complexity and power of the technique that you intend to create. Sure, Littlefoot dominated all of his techniques, like the Light Roar and the Bright Power, but they were all simple and very basic into what it came to the power of magic and the way of using, and more complex techniques demanded a lot of practice to keep them good and working.

This new technique that Littlefoot had just been training when Swift arrived was one that he had been working for over one night circle cycle now, he started while he was still in the Valley of Leaf and Claw and had been practicing while still in the Great Valley, and he was still not to the point that it would work effectively like he wanted. What just happened was a proof that the technique itself was still a while from the point of perfection.

"I know." Littlefoot said, looking at the ground, "Is just that… I feel like I'm closing of doing it and of making it work. I just feel that I just need to focus harder so I can actually make it work."

Swift looked at him, and he actually smiled a bit, "You won't quit until you can actually make it, right?"

Littlefoot didn't even need to answer, for Swift already knew him well. The longneck was a lot like Swift, he too didn't quit of the things that he considered to be important. That was one of the things that Swift admired into that longneck. Littlefoot was surely one of his own kind, and Swift could very easily sympathize with him.

"Well, you could at least try to make it into place that has far less things around for you to damage." Swift offered to him, "You know that I train all of my new techniques in open spaces without any trees or grass around, so I don't start a fire."

Littlefoot was actually able to smile a bit back at the sailback. He knew that Swift had destructive abilities and that was the reason why he needed big and open spaces to train, with rocks and dirty and nothing that could be set on fire around. Still, his abilities could cause some serious damage to his surroundings and actually hurt a poor unfortunate dino that would be passing in place while he was at training. Littlefoot still remembered the place that he had seen and that was one of Swift's favorite spots to train his new techniques. The longneck shuttered at the memory of the conditions of the local and how much damaged it actually looked. But Littlefoot remembered himself that the same place was used by several other members of the Order to train their abilities, and that some of the damage could have been created by the power and training of many others besides Swift. Still, Littlefoot was sure that most of the damage was actually come from the fire powers of his sailback friend.

"Well, at least you are using well your time and training." Swift said with his smug smile, and Littlefoot was able to laugh a little, as he had already got used to Swift's way of acting.

"Anyway, I think your friends are missing you right now." Swift said, and Littlefoot once more had to agree with him.

Littlefoot was not the kind that dismissed the chance to play and spend some quality time with his friends, but still, the recent times taught him that he should use chances to improve himself and make himself stronger when they appeared. He had learned that during his time in the Order, and that he should use them so he could become stronger to be able to protect what was dear to him, and it included his friends, both old and new.

Still, Littlefoot had promised that he would play with his friends that day when he was done with his other business. And he was not the kind of dinosaur that broke his own promises.

"Let's go." Littlefoot said, "I don't want to keep my friends waiting." And hew started to trot forward, and Swift looked at him go and calmly followed him with his arms crossed, with his stoic expression of always, but he had a light smile in his face. He was actually starting to warm up to Littlefoot's friends, even if some of them made him a bit annoyed…

* * *

Chomper laughed as he ran after Ducky, who was laughing too. They were playing tag, and Nettle was with them too, and she too was laughing. They simply were being kids now, as Chomper seemed to be determined to catch Ducky, as the little big mouth ran as fast as she could to avoid being caught by the young sharptooth.

Many would see it as the same as in the Mysterious Beyond, with the leaf eater running away from the scary sharptooth to avoid becoming lunch. However, that was just a game, just a form of fun that the friends had among themselves, totally devoid of any evil or of any form of cruelty that you could see in the world outside of the Great Valley.

They weren't prey and predator; they were just two kids, two friends, playing among themselves as they enjoyed at the max the company of each other.

Of course, not everyone was willing to see it like that.

As the kids were playing, four dinosaurs approached them slowly, keeping neutral expressions as they watched the sharptooth chase the young swimmer. They were all domeheads, and they all were looking very intently at the sharptooth as he played with his leaf eater friends.

"Just look how happy he is." Said the bigger of them, a male that was blue colored with indigo stripes in his back and who had amber-colored eyes. "Chasing leaf eaters and they run from him, just like it is supposed to be."

The young ones and Nettle all stopped to look at the domeheads and some of them gave strange looks at the one who had said it.

Chomper too had stopped what he was doing, and he looked at the domeheads, and he knew that they were talking about him. "Huh? Oh! hi." He said, waving at the domeheads, and they simply looked at him with neutral expressions, and the oldest gave a step forward, and he asked the young sharptooth a question:

"So, tell me, sharptooth…" He said, looking down at Chomper, a look that made the young sharptooth feel very uneasy, as if he was being studied. "It is a good practice? Chasing leaf eaters now is a good way of practicing so you are able to hunt us better when you are an adult?"

Chomper was taken aback by the bluntness of that question, and he was unable to answer, but of course, the domehead didn't really expected him to answer. "Yeah, I bet it is. You get to know how leaf eaters run away from you when you are chasing them so you know how to hunt better so you can have a good meal. Yeah, it surely is a good way of practicing your hunting skills."

"Hey!" Ducky said, walking up and looking up at that domehead. "You can't talk to Chomper like that! You can't! You can't!"

He looked down at her, and he simply said, "So you really stand up for him, right?" He looked at her, and he said, "Well, I just want to see if you will still think so good about him when he is chasing you down to eat you."

"Chomper would never do that never!" Said Ruby, standing for Chomper against the domeheads, despite the one that was talking was actually a good few feet bigger than her. He only looked down at her, and he said, "I'm just saying the truth."

He looked at all of them, and he continued, "He might be a friend now, but trust me, it is just a matter of time before he turns into the cold-blooded killer that he truly is." As he spoke that, Litltefoot and Swift had just entered into hear shot, but they had not been seen yet. "That his whole kind is."

Both longneck and sailback looked at the domehead who was speaking, Swift with a raised eyebrow, and Littlefoot with widen eyes as he recognized that domehead, as well as the other three. They were the same domeheads that had spoken to him in the same day of the night that he was recruited by the Order. The ones who told him that Chomper would not be his friend forever and that someday he would stop being his friend and would become just a mindless hunter that would want nothing more than to eat him.

Littlefoot immediately knew, he instinctively knew, that things could very well get complicated fast.

"You are wrong!" Nettle said, stepping forward, "Sharpteeth are not like that! Many of them are good, like Terry and Swift!"

"Oh, yeah, the ones who  _you_  are friends with, right?" The domehead asked, and he looked at her dead in the eye. "Well, I have seen some of your 'training', and I saw the way that the sailback you call your friend acts with the ones who are his 'friends'. With a friend like that, who needs enemies? I'm not right?" And the other domehead agreed with him, and this was making the rest of the group really uncomfortable.

Ruby was standing between them and Chomper as if to protect the young sharptooth from them, and in their spot, both Littlefoot and Swift were becoming angry at what the domehead was speaking, and he seemed not to be done yet.

"The fact is, that all the sharpteeth I saw in my life before never were interested in playing or being friends. They only wanted to know about chasing and eating leaf eaters, and their only worry seemed to decide which one tasted the better." He said, looking at the group of kids and adult, and he continued, "This is what sharpteeth really are like. They are nothing but monsters, and they only care about themselves. They don't have friends or emotions, and they only follow their instinct of eating other creatures so they don't starve. Not that they actually have an option, by the matter. IN the end, sharpteeth only care about eating, and so, they cannot be friends with anyone. That is the truth."

He spoke as if he really believed that, and this was making the group even more nervous. In the place he stood, Swift bared his teeth and snarled slightly, as he clenched his claws into fists, as their started to let out fumes of smoke. Littlefoot would be trying to calm him down and to prevent him from doing something stupid, if he himself wasn't just as angry.

How did he dare to talk like that about Chomper?! He barely knew him! Littlefoot knew that the domehead and neither of his companions even bothered to go near Chomper and to know him before actually judging him. They had absolutely no right to label him as a monster and a killer! Chomper was far from being that!

And Chomper seemed to think like that too, for he stood up and he looked at the domehead. "I would never do it!" He said, looking at the bigger and clearly stronger dinosaur in the eye as he said it. "I would never do anything bad to my friends!"

"You might say that now!" The domehead said, almost towering over Chomper, "But I want to see if you will say the same thing once you are an adult and can't live of bugs anymore! You will become just a hungry and brainless sharptooth like all the others! After all, that is all that you meat breaths are able to do!"

That domehead was playing with fire, for Swift and Littlefoot both seemed to be ready to jump over him and force him to swallow his words.

"No! It won't happen!" Chomper said

"And what makes you think that?"

"The Order of Leaf and Claw!" Chomper said, making everyone around go silent and look at him. The young blue sharptooth continued to look at him, and he said, "The Order is trying to change the world so they can make it a place where leaf eaters and sharpteeth can all be friends!"

"Oh, yeah, and we can see by the sharpteeth of the Mysterious Beyond how much success they are having, right?" He spoke, with his arms crossed as he looked down at the young sharptooth, but Littlefoot didn't let himself be reduced this time, and he continued:

"They have a Valley where it happens! And one day they will make it happen in everywhere! You'll see! One day sharpteeth and leaf eaters will all be friends, and no one will ever has to be devoured again!"

He looked down at the young sharptooth, as if he was trying to see every single part of his body, and he finally said, "You must be either very deluded or incredibly stupid to believe that." Chomper looked up at him as he continued. "Sharptooth cannot be friends with leaf eaters. They can barely be friends with each other! This idea of sharpteeth and leaf eaters being friends is not only stupid, it is not natural! Anyone that can believe in something like that is deluded or stupid, or maybe both. It is an impossible dream that will never happen, and you, little guy, is very stupid for believing in something like that."

Now all the young ones were staring daggers at the domehead, and Swift was clenching his fists so hard that a few drops of blood leaked from the place where his own claws pierced his skin. "Littlefoot." The sailback spoke, his voice trembling with anger. "If I jump over these domeheads, don't try to stop me."

"Stop you?" Littlefoot said, his own eyes shining as the power he had was activated by his anger towards that arrogant domehead that dared to speak like that to his friend. "I think that you are the one who will need to stop me."

Chomper was just looking up at him, his face flushed with anger, and he was trying to fight back the tears. The domehead, however, little cared about his feelings, as he continued. "Your dream is something stupid, and one day, you will see ho stupid it is, when you start to hunt to survive!"

Immediately, something came and hit the domehead in the mid-section of his body, forcing him back and sending him into the ground. All the ones around were shocked, including Swift and Littlefoot, who had neither of them the chance of attack, thought they were both about to do so.

The domehead himself was shocked, as he scrambled in the ground, to get up again. He looked over to see what was it that had hit him, and he saw a yellow female threehorn looking at him, and she looked to be really pissed. He immediately recognized her as one of the sharptooth's friends.

"Cera!" Chomper cried in anger, and the domehead was immediately getting up as he looked at the threehorn with hate in his eyes.

"You little brat!"

The domehead was getting up and he seemed as if he wanted to rip the threehorn in pieces with his bare hands. "What is wrong with you!?" He asked, as if he had the right to be angry at her, for she had attacked him without reason.

"What is wrong with me!?" Cera asked, sound not only surprised but outraged, as she looked at him with a look that made him recoil. "What is wrong with ME!? What is wrong with YOU?!"

The tune in her voice made everyone around flinch, including Littlefoot and Swift.

"You came all the way here only to see Chomper so you could say bad things about him?! Is that it!?" She sounded utterly mad as she looked at the domehead, as if she didn't minded that he was an adult and that he was bigger than her and that he would, most like, give her a good beating if they actually got into a fight. "With what right you come here to bad-mouth Chomper!?"

"What? I told any lie?" He asked, as if he didn't understood how the things he was saying could actually be hurtful or wrong. "I'm just stating the obvious! You think he will continue to be kind and sweet forever! What a joke!"

"You are wrong about him!" Cera said, "And you are wrong about the Order and their goal! They CAN make it happen!"

Everyone looked at Cera, and the domehead said, "Oh, so you believe this stupid dream too?"

Cera looked up at him, "What is wrong with believing in it?" She asked, and it was a very serious question, it was easy to notice it in the tune of her voice. Her assertiveness even caught the domehead off guard. "What is wrong with believing in something that is so good and that would be better for everyone?"

Sift and Littlefoot traded a look, as they continued to look at Cera, and she continued to talk, and she seemed to have a lot to say:

"I think that it is okay to believe in something beautiful, and that would make life good for everyone." She spoke, and she looked back at Chomper. "Even if it may seem impossible, I think that it has absolutely no harm in believing into something that would be good, and that makes you be more of an optimist. And this dream, is one that is very optimist."

Chomper looked back at her, feeling touched for Cera to be on his side so much, and the threehorn turned back to the domehead, and she said, "And you know what? I believe in this dream! I believe that things can change for the better, and that the world can be a better place! I believe that sharpteeth can all learn to be friends with leaf eaters, even if it might be hard and take a lot of time to actually happen! I believe that the world will one day be a better place, and that no one will ever have to devour anyone to survive, and that sharpteeth and leaf eaters can all live together, as if they were a big herd!" She remembered the talk she had with Littlefoot just in the previous night, and all that he had told her, "As if they were all a big family." She said finally, and with a conviction that would make any member of the Order proud of her, and it surely made Littlefoot, as the longneck was able to smile at himself for hearing these words coming from Cera.

The domehead, however, seemed to be nothing else than mad at the threehorn for standing against him like that, and he bared his teeth and clenched his fists as he looked at her. "Then you are just as stupid as all of them." He snarled as he seemed to be ready to go into a physical fight with her, as he was aligning his spine just like the other domeheads all did when they were about to bash someone with their hard skulls.

However, if he was really going to do that or not it would not be known, for immediately, a voice came. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

The eyes all turned to see Swift and Littlefoot walking out of the place they were, and they did both seem as if they were not around for playing. "…Unless you want to have some problem with us." Swift said, his eyes shining like white fire as he spoke that, a shine that showed that he was ready to get into fight, and that he was in the mood for spill some blood.

The domehead could be sure of himself, and he could be very determined into fights, but still, he knew that he would have little to no chance against dinosaurs who had magic powers. He valued his life, and he knew that, if these two actually wanted to hurt him badly, they would do it, especially the sailback, which could be so aggressive and violent with his own "friends". The domehead was not in the mood to know what the sharptooth would do with someone who he actually would consider an enemy.

He looked at them, and he simply snorted, "Whatever." He said, and turned around to leave, "Let's go away." He said to the other three domeheads, and they all followed him, walking away as Littlefoot and Swift kept their glares at him, as if to be sure that they would not change their minds and try to attack once they had lowered their guards.

The domehead still looked at them over his shoulder as he was leaving, and he snarled to himself under his breath. "A world where leaf eaters and sharpteeth can be friends..." He said under his breath, feeling all the absurdity of something like that feeling a clear despise for this idea. "… Bah! I'll believe that in the day I see a longneck flying!"

Littlefoot and Swift both continued to watch the domeheads, until they were definitely out of sight, and Littlefoot sighed, and he turned to Cera. "You're okay?"

"Of course I am!" Cera said, and she added, "And I had everything under control… but thanks for backing me up." She added in the end, it was a bit her for her admitting something like that aloud, but still, she had to admit that she was glad that Littlefoot and Swift had both came.

All of sudden, Chomper hugged Cera by the neck, startling her slightly.

"H-hey! She said, and Chomper continued to hug her.

"Thank you, Cera!" He said, "Thank you very much!"

He was really glad for her having stood for him. She had proved to be a real friend, and everyone else was amazed and admired of her actions, all of them looking at her with admiration. Cera herself didn't liked very much being hugged, but she couldn't help but blush as she was hugged by the young sharptooth. "Yeah, yeah, okay… you can let me go now."

Chomper let go of her, and all the ones around laughed, this was just Cera being Cera. As Cera was still blushing, Swift walked up to her, and he stood there his arms crossed and his expression serious as he looked down at the threehorn girl. There was a silence as some of the ones around were nervous at what would happen. Cera only looked back at him for a long moment, before Swift finally broke the silence.

"That was a very good move that you used." He said, referring to what she had done with the domehead, "Predictable, but very effective. And for a advice, in the future, you need to focus more on the vital areas, I recommend you to go to the left right side of the belly, it is where the liver usually stays. It is a very sensitive spot and a good target if you want to make serious damage."

Cera looked back at him for a few moments, before she answered, "Yeah, I guess that is a good advice. Thank you."

The dinosaurs all looked at them, and after a while Littlefoot broke the silence, "Well, since we are all here, what about we play some more?"

"It is a good idea, a good idea it is." Ruby said, and she said, "It is still with Chomper."

The sharptooth looked at them, and he said, "Well, it was, but I just hugged Cera, so… it is with Cera!" He cried out and he started to run, Cera looked at him, and she said, "Hey! Wait! No fair!"

"Sorry Cera, but it is the game!" Littlefoot said, and she looked at him.

"Oh, yeah? Then I'm going to show you!" She said, with a smirk in her face as she started to run after Littlefoot, and all of the others, save for Swift, started to run around, as Cera was taking turns going after each one of them, and they were still all running away from her, all of them laughing, without a care nor worry in the world.

Swift only crossed his arms and sat in a nearby fallen tree as he watched them all playing. Just kids being kids, including Nettle, who was a big kid in her own heart, and would probably always be. Seeing then like that made Swift remember better times of his own past, when he too was that careless and joyful.

He had matured, of course, but he was still able to enjoy the little things of life, like watching the kids play and imaging himself along with them. He took a good look in each one of them. Littlefoot, his fellow member of the Order, who he had knew for little time, and yet, he quickly had come to admire and respect as a friend and ally.

Nettle, so gentle and innocent, and an eternal child, who would always make her best for others and who would always make someone smile when he had a good chance.

Littlefoot's friends, who all were carefree and joyful, and who were willing to trust their longneck friend with all he needed, and who had been with him in so many adventures and faced so many dangers that most kids would not face, even the ones who lived in the Valley of Leaf and Claw, unless they were active members of the Order.

Swift admired all of them, especially the young Chomper, who was so happy and so sure about his dream and about the future, and who was willing to stand into the danger if it was to protect the ones he held dear. That little sharptooth had a bright future ahead of him, and Swift knew it only by looking at the way he behaved and the shine in his eyes.

Yeah, that little sharptooth really was special.

Finally, there was the threehorn girl, daughter of that Mr. Threehorn, and someone that Swift had not liked at first look. However, the way she acted just now was really admirable, and it showed that she was more open-minded than her father, and that she was too, willing to go to the end for her friends and the people who she held dear to her. She showed a lot of good character and she showed to be brave and strong, just characteristics that Swift himself liked to see in people who he would be partners with during any mission or any business of the Order of Leaf and Claw.

As he watched that threehorn girl play with the rest of her friends, Swift could not avoid thinking, with a smug smile in his face, that she maybe wasn't that bad as he first thought…

* * *

"This is all so fascinating!" Mr. Thicknose said to Terry, as the big adult sharptooth had just told him a few more details about their magic and about how it worked.

Mr. Thicknose was one of the dinosaurs that had always been on the side of the Order, since their first arrival several days ago. Of course, at first he was skeptical about their magical powers, but he soon changed his mind once he saw just what the members of the Order were able to do with it.

Needless to say, the thick nosed dinosaur was utterly amazed by the powers and abilities that these dinosaurs could achieve, and he wanted to know as much about them as possible. Sure, he had a lot of questions, like, where did their powers came from, why they had different abilities from one to another, and how came he never knew about them before.

Of course, Terry was glad to share this information with him, as long as it didn't came to close to the reason why they were into the Great Valley, at least, not more than the residents already knew. Of course, Thicknose was a bit suspicious about their secrets, but he was far too busy getting very interesting knowledge about the Order and about their abilities.

In his talks with Terry, he had already learned that their magic reflected the heart and spirit of each different dinosaur, and that was why they varied so much from one dinosaur to the other. He also learned that the "Amulets" they had in their bodies, which were made of the material of the Stones of Cold Fire, were what allowed them to use the power of their magic at their will, by canalizing the power of their magic and turning it into something palpable.

Also, he learned more about the reason why he never heard of the Order of Leaf and Claw before:

"The world is big, my friend." Terry told him, "It is bigger than you imagine, and bigger than any living being can even start to imagine. In a world so big and so rich, it would not be a surprise if there are things in certain places that very few had learned or seen before, like our magic. I have been in the Order for a long time, and I have traveled a lot by accomplishing missions for them, and I have to say, I have seen so many things during this time and during this missions and travels that I even have a hard time remembering and telling all of them. I saw many things. Mysterious, beautiful things, amazing things. But, I also saw many bad things, things that no good being should ever see or even know about. This world is full of wonders, but is also full of dangers and evil. However, this world is, above all, full of surprises, and if you travel far enough and for long enough, you surely will find something that before you never would imagine that could even exist."

Indeed, the bonecrusher sharptooth sounded as if he had already traveled a lot and seen a lot of things that others could barely even dream about, and that was the reason why Mr. Thicknose admired him so much. Being able to talk with the sharptooth was something that was far a great chance for the smart dinosaurs, just like it was when he first got a chance to talk with Chomper when he first moved into the Valley. It had been fascinating and a chance in a lifetime thing to be able to actually speak with a sharptooth and discover how they saw the world. What was happening now was just as good.

"You are really nice to talk with." Terry said to Mr. Thicknose, a smile in his scaly lips. "You are open minded and you are not quick to judge like some other dinosaurs. I like that in you, Mr. Thicknose."

"Please, call me Patchy." The thick nosed dinosaur said to him, and he added, "I'm really glad to talk to you. I have learned a lot of interesting things form these talks, and this is all indeed very interesting. You know, by knowing young Chomper I have came to realize that judging other species prematurely could lead to several bad situations."

"Yes, for before I got to know him it never had occurred to me that sharptooth indeed did talked, but they did it into their own particular dialect that we leaf eaters are not used too, so we don't understand." He spoke that with very appreciation, remembering gladly about how much he had learned from the young sharptooth. "Yes, that young sharptooth really did enlarged my world and helped me to see the world in a way that I never imagined before, as well as his friends did before him."

Terry chuckled, and he said, "Yes, these kids are indeed very special… They all are." Terry said, looking up, and he had a knowing smile in his face as he thought about the things that were happening and that were still going to happen. He was worried about the future, but the good thoughts that he got were helping it ease his worry and making him feel more confident into the future.

After a few moments, he let out a sigh, and he looked back at the dinosaur, and he asked, "So, there is anything else you want to know?" And of course there was, Patchy had a lot of questions for the adult sharptooth, and all of them about the Order, and of course that not all of them Terry would be able to answer, but still, he was glad to do his best to shine some light into the thicknose's questions and doubts.

As they both talked, sitting in their haunches, they were being watched by a familiar dinosaur with three horns. The old bull snorted to himself as he saw Thicknose getting to be close friends with that sharptooth. That guy was surely never the smartest one, even though he liked to make everyone think that he did.

The old threehorn knew that he had not heard anything that could be useful until that moment, and he knew that he would most likely don't hear it by now. He simply snorted as he turned around and left, leaving these two "pals" to talk among them by things that the old bull had no interest in hearing at all.

The old bull was still adamant about finding out anything that he could use to convince the other members of the Great Valley to chase the Order away from there. Or at least to make it clear to them that they were not welcome. Ever since they appeared the problems had been happening to no stop, and the old bull was getting seriously tired of all this trouble after his own daughter almost got caught in their cross-fire.

Of course, maybe his attitude was a bit overreacted, like many had been telling him lately, but he knew that the Order was keeping secrets, and that was more than enough reason not to trust them. Topps already lost count of how mnay times he wished to go straight to that big sharptooth, or to the longneck, or to any other of the dinosaurs and put them against the ground until they decided to talk. Being held secrets from was something that greatly displeased the big bull, and he wanted to have answers, so at least he would know what he should be worried about.

He sighed, as he walked in direction to his nest, wanting just to meet with his mate so he could relax a little by spending some time with her, and he could finally forget these Order and that freaky dinosaurs at least for a few moments.

He surely didn't expect to meet one of them in there.

"Oh, you are so kind." Threehorn could hear Tria saying, and another voice, a male one, and rather familiar too, answered.

"It's no biggie Mrs."

In the moment he heard that voice, Topps perked his head and looked over, and he saw a familiar threehorn in there, talking with Tria.

The fact that any male threehorn would come near Tria would already made him uncomfortable, especially if Tria was smiling to him the way she was smiling to that boy. Sure, it didn't help that Topps immediately recognized him as a member of the Order of Leaf and Claw, the dinosaurs that he currently was trying to get kicked out of the Great Valley.

Topps was soon perceived by Tria, who looked at him, "Oh! Topsy! Welcome back!"

Uri took looked over, and he saw the adult threehorn coming in their direction, and he greeted him, seemingly ignoring or not noticing the expression in is face. "Hey there, Topsy!"

Okay, that boy really had some nerve.

Topps walked into them, and he asked, "May I know what  _you_  are doing in here?" He spoke the word "you" as if he was speaking something that left a bad taste in his mouth. Tria gave him a glare at this, but Uri, on the other paw, seemed not to notice at all, and he simply said:

"Well, I was passing by here earlier, taking a good stroll, seeing your Valley, and I saw that this Mrs. was having a few problems with some trunks that she wanted to move away from the nest. So I decided to offer her my help!"

"And he was very helpful." Tria added, making sure to emphasize it for Topps to understand, using that tune of voice that always made Topps recoil slightly when she used it, and that was reserved for when she was really mad or when they were arguing, "He is a very sweet young man and a very gentle dinosaur."

"Oh… thank you." Uri said, looking away and hoping that they were not going to notice his blushing. "Ahem. There is still some log moving to do in here, so, I'm gonna get to work!"

"I am here now." Topps said, and he approached the younger, blue threehorn, "I guess that now you need to be going, don't you think?"

"Topsy!" Tria said, getting both males' attention, "Please, he just wants to help!"

"Tria, I really think that I should be doing it. After all, this is  _my_  nest." Topps made sure to emphasize that the nest was his and he hoped that this was going to make that young man to realize that he was no longer needed in there now that Topps was around. However, the boy seemed not to get the message, as he soon was making a suggestion.

"What about we do it together?" Uri asked, and he said, "After all, don't they say that union makes strength? I bet that two strong threehorns can end this work far faster than one alone would be able to!"

Uri was saying it as if it was simply the most obvious thing in the world, but Topsy was looking at him as if he had just suggest that he should quit eating plants and start to eat crawlers instead.

"Wha- Why you-" Topsy was about to say something, but Tria got in the way.

"It is a great idea." She looked between the two of them, "I'm pretty sure that you will use well a good help, don't you agree, Topsy?"

There was that familiar tune and the expression in her face, both which said "if you don't want to sleep all alone tonight you will agree with me". Topps was already faced with that dangerous combination many times already, and he knew that there was only one correct curse of action if he wanted to be out of problem.

So, despite his mistrust and his worry, Topps could only hang his head down and sigh, and he said, "Yeah, sure." And he walked, casting a glance to the blue colored threehorn, whose was almost half of his own size. "You better be able to keep up with me." He said.

"Okie dokie!" Uri said, and he was immediately trotting after the older threehorn, while Tria was actually able to smile to herself, knowing that she had settled another score.

For the following hour, both Topps and Uri made their best efforts to pull all of these logs away from the nest, making their best to clean up the sleeping area and to make it cozy for the ones who lived in there. Uri, being who he was, seemed to be prone to try making conversation with the older threehorn.

"So… your wife is beautiful, and she is very nice. You are a lucky dinosaur, Topsy."

Topps cringed at that, for several different reasons, and he was able to answer, "Yeah, as you said, she is MY wife." As if he was trying to make a point with it, and he added, "And she is the only one who can call me Topsy."

"Oh! Sorry…" Uri said, noticing that he was being way to intimate and also way too daring. "Don't worry, Mister, I don't plan anything, I mean, I know that she is married and I respect this kind of thing, I mean, if I was married I also would not like another guy getting all funny with my wife. I understand you."

Topps grunted to himself, wondering what that young threehorn was trying to achieve with that talk. Uri, of course, continued, "So, Topps, may I call you Topps?" Topps only snorted in answer, and it seemed that Uri had taken that for a "yes".

"Well, Topps, I know that you don't trust me."

Yeah, he was already showing that he was able to acknowledge the obvious.

"I mean, the fact that you have been following me and the others for a while now, and the way you always are glaring at us is kind of a giveaway." Uri said, with a little laugh in the end, as if he was trying to make the situation be a little lighter by making a little humor. It seemed to fail, since Topps didn't said anything back nor did he shared his humor by laughing, so he resumed talking, as both of them were pushing a particularly heavy log.

"Well, I know that you have your reasons not to trust you and… honestly, if I was in your place I'm almost sure that I wouldn't trust us either. I mean, by the way we are acting, I guess that no one can actually blame you. I mean, we arrive in your home suddenly and we talk a lot of strange things, and in the same day a lot of Hollows come in here? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that some people would totally not blaming you for not trusting us at all."

Yeah, at least the boy was really smart; he was able to realize all of Topps' reasons not to go along with them and not to put very much confidence into them.

"But… I have to say that, you gotta at least give us a chance." Uri said, pushing the log the best he could, "I mean, we can be quite nice if you actually gives us a chance to show it. We are the good guys, after all."

Topps snorted as he continued to push the log, and he had to admit, he was surprised that the smaller threehorn was actually able to keep up with him. Due to his small size, Topps was kind of expecting him to be somewhat weaker than normal, but still, the young man was proving to be very strong, more than Topps already expected. That boy was surely something to be admired. Still, Topps was finding trouble into seeing truth in any of his words.

"Yeah, you say so…" He huffed as he pushed the log away, and he looked at him, as he spoke, "But... let me ask you one thing:" The threehorn made one last push in the log, and both and Uri stopped, so they looked at each other, and Topps said, "If I don't trust in any of your friends, why do you think that I would trust you?"

Uri was a little taken back by the bluntness of his answer, and he remained silent for a while, and Topps was actually thinking that he had actually won, but then, the smaller threehorn said: "Well… because we are both threehorns?"

"I mean, we might have come from different places, from different creations, and we might have different ways of seeing the world, but, we are both threehorns. This means that we have at least something in common, and that we have already passed by some similar situations and we already have our own affair of problems out there, for one reason or the other. We should at least give each other a vow of trust due to that, right?"

Topps hated to admit it, but the boy actually had a point.

Since he was young, Topps had learned that he should always trust other threehorns, and that they were the ones that he could count to be along with him in a herd and that would protect his back if he ever was in a fight. This came from his childhood and he had kept it with him after all of these years, and he was still asking himself: if he could not trust his own species, in whom he would actually trust?

The boy noticed that the older threehorn had gone silent, and he asked, "Topps?"

Topps snapped out of his thoughts, and he looked at the young threehorn, who actually looked as if he was worried about Topps and about what was going on in his mind. Topps looked at the boy and he tried to remind himself that this could all be a scheme, that the other dinosaurs of the Order had actually sent the boy in there to talk to him and gain his trust so they could get what he wanted.

But, Topps had to admit to himself that this last trail of thought was so paranoid that even Topps himself had troubles actually believing it. He could only look at the boy, and he sighed, and he said, "We still need to move some logs here, and we better do it before the brightfall."

And with that both Topps and Uri went back to their work, and they continued to move the logs. Uri, of course, was still trying to make a conversation, and Topps was still just hearing. Still, he was to really listening to the young threehorn, for he was too focused into thinking into all that had been said to him in the current day, and into all that he had actually seem previously up to that day.

Indeed, the strange things happening in the Great Valley, the attacks, the Hollows, and all of the dangers and tension that had been happening in the previous days all started in the same day that the Order had arrived in the Great Valley. It made sense to associate the guilty of it all into them, and to assume that, if they left, then all of the problems would go away with them.

Still, Topps saw that they were all acting very friendly since they arrived into the Great Valley, and that they had indeed been a good grace to them, for they had did their best to keep them save from the Hollows, Especially a few nights ago, when they saved no other than Cera from these monsters. They were acting as if they truly worried about the safety and well-being of everyone in the Great Valley, so, even if they were, indeed, guilty of that, they were at least making an effort to make up for it, and they deserved some recognizance for doing so.

Still, there was the fact that they were hiding something, and they were keeping secrets from everyone into the Great Valley, something that was surely important and that they didn't wanted anyone else to find out. That was more than enough to kindle all of mistrust into Topps' being and to make him think that maybe the Order was not exactly who they were claiming, and that neither their reasons were as good as they were claiming to everyone. When someone keeps something as a secret and also tells lies to cover up said secret, it usually means that the secret would mean this person in problems, and that the person was trying to protect himself and maybe even plotting something. However, right now, Topps was not sure of how to think, and he was starting to believe that the ideas he had been sustaining to himself about the Order maybe were actually a bit overreacted.

For the first time since the Order arrived into the Great Valley, Topps was actually feeling thorn and he was actually not sure on what he should think. Dammit, that boy was actually able to change his head almost completely with a little more than a few phrases and a little talk, and that in only the time of an afternoon!

Having done it on purpose or not, Topps had to admit that the boy was good.

"… and that as how I finally learned how to swim." Uri finished, helping Topps to pull out the last log with a powerful push. Topps finally went back into hearing what the young threehorn was saying, and he looked as Uri sighed, and looked around, and he said, "Nothing like enjoying the sight of the work you did."

Topps looked around, and once more he had to agree with the young threehorn. It was rewarding to look at the work he had done and to feel proud of himself for having made it. That was a feeling that he could share with the younger threehorn as he looked at what they had done with nothing more than the strength of their horns.

Still, as he looked at what they had made, and as he thought about it, Topps could not avoid to think about one question:

"Hey, boy." He asked, and The blue threehorn turned to him.

"The name is Uri."

Topps nodded, and he asked, "You still have your magic, right?" Uri nodded at him, and Topps asked, "Wouldn't it have been easier to just have used some of your magic to do all that work?"

"Actually, yes." Uri said, "But it would be against Rule 29#."

"Rule 29#?" Topps asked, and Uri said, as if a trained speech:

"Don't go using your magic for any little thing."

Topps looked at him for a while and Uri simply laughed, and he said, "If we got used to solve all of our problems with magic it would be easy to just lose tracks and to think that we could do anything we wanted when we wanted. Besides, I think that a little of hard work without the use of magic actually helps build your character."

Topps once more got to slightly agree with that point of view. Really, if you got used to have an easy way of doing everything, you would eventually get lazy and get too dependent on that easy way to do everything for you. It actually made sense that you would have to know how to do things without magic so you would not get weak.

"Man, all this work has made me hungry!" Uri said, and he asked, "I hope you don't mind me staying for lunch!" He talked it as if he actually thought that Topps had the obligation of inviting him. Still, the old threehorn didn't had much to complain about it, what surprised even himself.

Topps even thought that he had agreed, for Uri was already talking about a place that he asked that had the best roots and that he wanted to share with Topps. Once more, Topps was barely even actually hearing to what he was saying. Topps indeed had a lot on his mind now, and he would be thinking about it long and deep.

* * *

Far from there, in the Mysterious Beyond, there was a dark cave. The inside was into a good deal of darkness, but some openings into the ceiling and walls allowed light to come inside, and this, summed with a good eyesight was enough for any dinosaur to see well, including the one who was in there now.

This dinosaur was a sharptooth, and he was big and walked in two legs, with muscled legs, with two short arms with three fingers. His scales were crimson colored all over his body, with a lighter shade of red for his belly and chest, and he has also some splash-like stains in his body in a darker shade of red, which horribly looked like blood. He had black talons in his feet and also in his claws, and he had a pair of black-colored horns in his head.

The sharptooth walked into the caves, which were big and very elaborated, and had very big chambers in them, enough for him to have his time space very well defined.

The sharptooth walked into the tunnel that was one of the caves, and he arrived into a bigger chamber, a big one, and in the middle of it, taking a good part of the chamber itself, was a pool that was like a watery hole. However, this hole was filled not with water, but with what seemed to be filled with what could be describing as some dark, bubbling goo.

The sharptooth walked in direction to it, and the pool, as if feeling his presence, started to bubble and to move almost as if it had a mind of its own.

The sharptooth looked at it, and he said, " _You want to be made now?"_  He asked it into sharptooth language, and the pool simply bubbled more, and the sharptooth seemed to take this as an answer, for he purred, and he said, " _Don't worry, you will have your chance. I still need to get my hands at that little brat, and to make sure that no one will get on my way._ **"**

The pool continued to bubble, and the sharptooth walked around it, and he seemed to be thinking into something, for soon, he started to growl. " _I bet that now he is playing around, with all of his dear friends around him, and all of them telling about how amazing he is._ "

He stopped, and he looked at the pool, and he breathed deeply, and his eyes turned black. As he did, the pool seemed to move on its own, and soon, some of the goo started to move up, and it started to move and to take a shape, taking a shape that was vaguely something that could be related as a dinosaur, and it even let out a small screeching sound as it was starting to be formed.

" _Just wait, you little vermin._ " The sharptooth spoke, as he let his own anger flow into the goo, and help it to take form. " _You have gotten in the way of no other than Carnage, and you will pay for it with your own life. Nor the Order, nor your friends from the Great Valley will save you from my wrath!_ "

The goo continued to move as it was formed, and as it did, more pillars of the goo started to move up, and each one was now starting to take the shape of something that was similar to the one that was already forming. They too screeched, and they were moving around as their limbs were slowly made, and as well as the rest of their bodies, all of them fabricated with the help of the hate, anger and even the lust for blood of that sharptooth. As they did the sharptooth smiled to himself, imagining already how he was going to slowly kill that little one, maybe by ripping out his members one by one and letting him bleed to death, or maybe breaking them and let him agonizing for a while before swallowing him alive. Only thinking about it was already making his mouth water as he was starting to wish for the blood.

" _And once you are out of my way for good…_ " He spoke, the desire for blood growing into him more and more at the second, " _Then I'll turn your precious Great Valley into a very different place…_ "

 

 

 


	15. Winged Creeps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right when eveerything seems to be turning out for the better, a dark cloud appears, bringing bad owens over the Valley and all of its residents.

The day passed into the Great Valley, with the residents all living their lives as the Sky was slowly taking an orange color that the Bright Circle usually made when he was getting near the ground on the end of the day. They still had a while of light and day, so they were using it to eat and to finish their things of the day before it came the time that they would need to prepare to settle down for the night and prepare for the following day.

Among them, there were our friends, who were playing with the pointy seeds, by piling them up and throwing another seed into them to try to put down as many as they could. Right now, Spike was ahead, and he was showing a very good skill in that game. All of them were cheering for Spike as the spiketail was getting ready to push his Pointy seed in direction to the pointy seeds all piled up in the other side.

Swift was standing in there with his arms crossed, as he had been all day as he followed the kids. Today was a day that Terry had dismissed them from training, claiming that they needed a little more time for themselves. Swift was not sure of what exactly he meant, but he was not complaining… very much. He simply decided to stick with the kids and to watch them play, and to make sure that no other dinosaur like these domeheads would decide to come and to bother them anymore. Swift already dealt with pains in the tail like that, and he knew that one for a day was already enough.

These kids deserved to be able to play around and to relax without being bothered by these kinds of jerks, especially Chomper.

Speaking of the young sharptooth, he too was watching as Spike was getting ready to throw his pointy seed, and he was sitting right by Littlefoot's side. The longneck was smiling as they both were looking at the preparing spiketail, and they knew that Spike liked to prepare his moves on his turn, so he would get the max of success that he could achieve.

As they both looked, Chomper said, "Littlefoot?"

"Huh?"

Chomper smiled at him, and he said, "Thank you for the way you stood for all of us today." Chomper said, and that was just the seventh time that Chomper had thanked him for that.

"Well… thank you, Chomper. Again." Littlefoot said with a smile, and both he and Chomper laughed at it.

"Seriously, it was awesome as you and Swift stood to these domeheads and made them go away." Chomper said, still admired how much Littlefoot was strong, so much that he could scare these no-goods like that only by being in there and looking at them with anger, very much like Mr. Threehorn himself was able to do. It was really that got all of his friends impressed, and this just showed to them how much Littlefoot had grown. Despite he was still the same longneck, and that he was still playing with them just like he always did, sometimes, Littlefoot was acting so mature and so strong that it was almost as if he had became an adult earlier.

Chomper was really amazed by his strength and his maturity, and he was coming to, just like all of his friends, admire Littlefoot even more than they already did before.

"I just did what I had to." Littlefoot said to his young sharptooth friend, "After all, you know I can't just sit and watch as someone threatens my friends." He winked at Chomper at this, and he and Chomper both continued to watch, and Littlefoot added, "Besides, we all know that these domeheads are wrong, and that soon he will see it."

Chomper continued to watch along with Littlefoot, but soon, he felt his attention be caught by the last thing that Littlefoot just said, he looked curiously at the longneck, and he asked, "How do you know it."

Littlefoot felt his heart going cold for a moment as he thought that he had spoken way too much, but he was able to hide it well, and he looked at Chomper with a smile and he said, "Call that an instinct. I know that our dream will come true, and even if it is not tomorrow or after, we know that one day leaf eaters and friends will all be friends."

Chomper accepted that answer, and he smiled, happy for seeing that there were dinosaurs that shared so much his dream, and he said, "Yeah, no matter what that domehead says! This dream may be hard, but it is not impossible."

Littlefoot chuckled, and smiled at his little sharptooth friend, and he said, "Nothing is impossible, Chomper." Littlefoot looked at him deeply in the eyes as he spoke these words. "If you believe hard enough, and if you make all you can to help it come true, then nothing is truly impossible."

"Yeah, I believe it." Chomper said, and why he wouldn't? After all, in the past days he had seen dinosaurs that could create body parts of other dinosaurs, breathe out flames, create poison, and control shadows and light as if they were something that could easily be used by them into battle and for other functions. After seeing all of that, there was no reason why Chomper or anyone else would not feel inclined to believe into something impossible, right?

They both laughed as they looked back into the game, and Spike was already ready for his last move. With a strong swing of his tail, he sent the pointy seed all downhill in direction into the other pointy seeds. All of the seeds were hit, and soon, they were all laying fallen and scattered into the ground.

As soon as that happened, all of the young dinosaurs, and Nettle, cheered loudly, congratulating Spike for he had won. Of course, Littlefoot had lost the game, but hye was still very happy for his friend, and he was glad that they could play it and have a good time together.

Swift could only smile and chuckle to himself as he saw all of these innocent children playing at it, and he felt glad for watching them all playing together, just as he enjoyed seeing another certain kid playing when he was back home…

However, he immediately had a sudden feeling, and he looked up to the sky, and as he did, he could see something move. It was big… no… it was small and a lot…

Swift's eyes widened as he looked at it, and he immediately called. "Littlefoot!"

The longneck immediately looked at him, and saw the sailback's expression as he looked up, at something that was in the sky, and Littlefoot too looked. Like Swift, he first tried to take a very good look at it, however, as he felt that feeling in his chest, and as he looked at the figures and was able to make out what they were, his eyes widened and he let out a gasp.

All of his friends looked at it, and Nettle reacted into the same way that Littlefoot did, while the others could only look at it, as they didn't knew exactly what it was.

"I… it is..?" Nettle said, with certain horror in her voice, and the others looked at it, and Petrie asked.

"W-what that?" His voice dented his fear, and Swift, who continued to look, answered:

"Problem… BIG problem! Run!" Swift turned around to run himself as he spoke that, and immediately, Littlefoot managed to put Chomper on his back as they all started to run. Littlefoot's friends had learned to trust into the longneck's judgment when it came to that, and they knew that, if he was scared, then maybe there was a good reason why they should be scared too.

And sacred they would get, once they gave a good look at the cloud that was gathering and they were able to see a glimpse of what was making them. They screamed as they continued to run very close to the members of the Order, as the cloud behind them let out a sound that was a combination of many cries and screeches of blood-curling savagery.

As they ran, Swift raised his claw and looked at the ring in it, with the symbol of the Order of Leaf and Claw, and he touched it. Immediately, the objects of silvery metal started to glow softly.

* * *

"This is all so fascinating!" Patchy said as he and Terry had been talking almost during the whole day. The bonecrusher sharptooth was glad to share information with him, and Patchy loved that. He was learning a lot of very interesting things that he never even imagined before with this talk, and he was really loving it.

Terry too liked that talk, and he was always glad to share information and knowledge with who was really interested in it, as Patchy was showing to be. He answered a lot of his questions the best he could, and while there were things that he could not really explain to him, he did his best to shine light into any question that he could have and help him understand better all the matters of his interest.

"And to think that the Stone of Cold Fire is responsible for all of this." Patchy said, "They really do take these shapes on your bodies all by themselves?"

Terry chuckled, and he said, "Yes, my friend. They do so when a dinosaur is deemed worth of holding the power given by the Spirits." Terry explained, looking at his own amulet, around his waist. Patchy looked at it too, and specially at the symbol it had in the front.

"And this marking… is so interesting."

"It is the symbol of the Order of Leaf and Claw." Terry explained to him, and he continued, "This symbol was the one existing into the first amulet ever created, and it is the symbol of all our purpose and believes."

The thicknose looked up at him, as the big sharptooth continued to explain, "The treestar leaf symbolizes the leaf eaters, while the teeth… well, I guess you can easily deduce that it represents we, the sharpteeth."

"The junction of these two things, in balance, and harmony, reflects our dream and ideal of a perfect world. It reflects the world we try to create, in which leaf eaters and sharpteeth will be able to live together, side by side, calling each other friend. A world where there will be no longer fight, death and disagreement. A world where all the living creatures can live together in peace and harmony, like it once was in the time of the Seven Brothers, and like it happens today in our Valley, and in some other places."

Patchy nodded at him, and he looked at the amulet, and the symbol in it. However, he could not avoid a question.

"It doesn't squeeze your waist too tight?"

Terry chuckled; he had heard this question a lot over the years. "Actually no, sometimes I even forget I'm using it. But I'm always sure to have it with me all the times, after all, it is rule 2#" Terry could notice that Patchy was going to ask, so he immediately recited "'Never be without your amulet'. After all, I already heard many stories of brave and valorous members who end up losing their lives because they didn't had their amulets on them."

Patchy nodded, and he asked the next question, "They give you magic, but they also do other things?"

"In fact, they do." Terry said, "First of all, they enhance our physical power. It happens because of the sheer magic energy coming from them and flowing into us. As a result, the simple fact of wearing them makes us stronger, faster and more resilient than a dinosaur like us would normally be. We can hold our own into a fight more than regular dinosaurs do, even when we don't use our magic."

Patchy nodded at that. It did explained how the Order was so strong, and it was indeed amazing. Something that could make you stronger simply by having it with you, it was surely something that many would like to have, for several different reasons. Terry then continued.

"And also, our amulets allow ourselves to talk with each other through great distances."

This had catch Patchy's attention. "Really?"

Terry nodded, and he continued, "Our amulets are connected to each other by the power of the spirits. As a result, they can also carve connections with other amulets, and they allow communication. If we activate our amulets, we can make them connect with the amulet of one or other member or even many at the same time. When it happens, the amulets allow us to communicate over great distances. What one of us say in one amulet, the others can her through their own amulets. It is used to share information and even to call for help if we are in trouble."

"This is amazing!" Patchy said, completely marveled. The idea of a form of communicating instantly over great distances was something really unthinkable, and to know that was something that would be able to allow someone to do such thing was really something amazing! Patchy already imagined what kind of things it was possible to do with something like that, and how much it could actually change the world and the way people related.

As Patchy's mind worked, Terry's attention was caught up when his own amulet started to shine, vibrate and emit a soft humming sound. Patchy noticed it too, and he looked at it curious, wondering just what it could be. Terry looked, and said, "Speaking of which…"

Soon, he focused a little, and the humming and vibration stopped, but the shine was still in there, as the bonecrusher looked at it, and he said, in a loud voice: "Here is Terry."

* * *

"… and after that he looked at me as if I was crazy! Do you believe it?" Uri said to Topps, as they both were sitting together in there, and the older threehorn was now paying much more attention to what the young one was saying. The kid seemed to have lots of stories to tell, and Topps himself, while having no problem with them, seemed to be growing quite tired of hearing them, even if some were really interesting.

That boy really was something, and Topps had to admit it.

However, before Uri could start another story, immediately the amulet in his leg started to glow, to vibrate, and to emit a soft humming sound. "Huh… what?" Uri said, as both he and Topps looked at the amulet, and Uri said, "Oh, excuse me for a bit?"

And so, he turned to the amulet, raising his paw near to his muzzle, and the amulet stopped to vibrate and to hum, but it was still glowing softly, and the blue-colored threehorn said, "Here is Uri, who talks?"

Topps looked at him, and for a moment, he wondered if the boy was crazy, but he was in for a scare in the moment that the thing in his leg actually responded!

And with the voice of that white sailback!

* * *

"Here is Swift talking!" The sailback said as he kept running, the loud screeching sound of the things chasing them telling that they were getting closer. "We have a problem!"

"We are under attack!" The sailback practically screamed as the things behind them were coming closer, and Littlefoot had to turn his head the max he could to shot beams of light into them to at least make them slow down. The young ones still screamed as they were running the faster they could.

* * *

"Swift!" Terry said, as Patchy was still right by his side, looking at him with a worried expression, as he could hear well the sounds of the things that were happening, both the voice of the sailback and the sound of the things that were happening around him, including the screeching and the screaming of kids.

That was more than enough reason for him to feel scared.

"Swift, what is happening, where are you?"

" _Just search!_ " The sailback's voice came from the amulet, " _Trust me, you have to be blind not to see! And even so, you would surely hear it!_ "

* * *

"Man, calm down!" Uri said, as Topps looked at him as he could hear any voices into it, talking and screaming, and he felt worried for one of the voices was disturbingly familiar to him, and that made him deeply worried.

" _Don't tell me to calm down, Uri! I am not in the mood for it now! The thing here is serious!_ " Swift screamed back, and Uri flinched at his voice, it was clear that what was happening was totally serious.

"Okay, okay, it is serious, I got it!"

" _Come quick, there are many of them!_ "

"Many of what?" Uri asked.

* * *

Swift looked at his back, and he said to his amulet the thing that was chasing them, and he knew that only these two words were enough.

"Winged Creeps!"

* * *

As soon as Terry heard these words, he cursed under his breath, and he said, "We will have to continue our conversation later."

The thicknose looked at him as he turned around, and said, "Tell everybody in the Great Valley to take cover, and to don't come to the place where we will be."

Without saying anything ore, he materialized the aura of a flyer's wings over his arms and flapped them, taking flight and immediately taking flight to the place, and searching for the signs of that cursed Winged Creeps.

* * *

Uri's eyes widened when he heard the words "Winged Creeps" Color draining away from his features as he said: "Oh no…"

He stood there for a few moments, before raising to his feet and starting to run, "Oh no! Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoh OH NO!"

Topps looked at him, and the blue threehorn continued to run, almost as a lunatic, and as he did, he was screaming around, something about taking cover and running for your lives, but it was clear that he, unlike the others would be soon, was running in direction to whatever he was telling them to run from.

Topps looked at him, and he soon was coming after him. He had stayed out of fights for too long by now, and he wanted to see what was going to happen. Even if he knew that there was probably nothing that he would be able to do, he was still wanting to see what was that which was making the threehorn all worried all of sudden, and he really wanted to know.

Just what were Winged Creeps?

* * *

As the group continued to run, they ended up passing by other dinosaurs, and they all were running too. After all, what was chasing them could be easily spotted as a massive cloud of wings and claws and screeches. Everyone who saw that immediately knew that it was danger, and they all knew that they had to run away from that.

As they ran, Swift and Littlefoot took turns turning around quickly to attack the big cloud as it came closer, and they immediately turned back and continued to run. They knew that they could not let that thing reach them, not while all the others were still close and being such vulnerable targets.

The cloud continued to screech as pieces of it fell and disappeared at any attack of the two dinosaurs. They quickly disappeared, and so, it was hard to exactly see or say what they were, still, it did not changed the fact that the members of the Order knew exactly what they were:

A variation of Hollow known by them as Winged Creep.

Besides their natural ability to fly, they were known for forming by clouds with hundreds, even thousands of individuals, which moved as if it had just a single mind. They could be terrible vicious and they could easily devour any dinosaur that was unlucky enough to be on the way of the cloud, leaving nothing but bones behind. They didn't had need to eat, of course, like all Hollows, but still, they were driven to eat by the feelings that made them. That turned them one of the most dangerous variations of Hollows that there could be.

The dinosaurs all screamed as they ran from that cloud, some of them, however, were not quick enough, and they ended up being reduced to nothing more than bones as the cloud swept past them, being bitten from all sides by thousands of hungry mouths. The other dinosaurs could only watch in horror as that happened and ran for their lives, so they wouldn't have the same fate.

" ** _Light Roar!_** "

" ** _Fire Breath!_** "

Littlefoot shot beams of light into the cloud, making several of the Winged Creeps fall at once, and so did Swift as he blew up clouds of pure fire into them, burning down dozens of them at a time. The cloud, however, seemed to be learning from their attacks, for it soon was learning to move as one to avoid the attacks that they were casting.

Swift snarled as he turned and they continued to run. He knew that the cloud was going to follow them to get  _him_. It was the only thing that he wanted, and he the Hollows surely had specific Orders to either bring him alive or bring a proof that he was dead. And of course that Swift and neither any other member of the Order would even allow that.

Swift continued to run, and he turned to Littlefoot, who still had Chomper on his back, "They will continue to follow us!" He screamed, making the longneck look at him, "We need to take them to an open space, and keep them away from other dinosaurs!"

Littlefoot nodded. He knew that this plan was risky for several reasons, but he also knew that they were still going to be followed, and that it was very likely that they would never be able to outrun a cloud of Winged Creeps. Their only option was to lure them to a safe place, keep the innocents out of their way, and to fight with all that they could until their help would arrive.

So, they guided the cloud into the direction of an open space, a big field, with no trees or rocks around, and they made sure that they were as far from any dinosaurs as possible. Still, there were a few dinosaurs that did, somehow, end up stuck with them as they ran into the field, and it didn't helped that Littlefoot's friends from the Great Valley were still along with them.

Swift looked at his side, at the dinosaurs that were by his end of the line, and he said to a nearby clubtail. "Hey!" The clubtail turned his head to look at him, his eyes widen with panic to what was going to happen. "We are going to lead the big cloud away, so you can all run and hide. But you need to take the young ones with you!" He said, pointing at the kids that were running, and the clubtail could only look at him, and nod.

As he did, Littlefoot was already talking with another group of dinosaurs by his side, this one led by an onehorn. "We know that we can fight them, but we can't if we have to worry about protecting all of you!" The longneck spoke to the one horned dinosaur, "So you have to go, and take my friends with you, so they'll be safe, okay?" The onehorn nodded at him, and Littlefoot turned to his friends, "Okay, you have to split up, half of you will go with each group! We will continue to run and we will met with you later!"

"But, Littlefoot…" Chomper tried to say, and Littlefoot gave a look over his own shoulder, and his face was some kind of emotion that the young sharptooth was not able to describe, but it was mostly one of sadness and… guilty? However, that was cut when Littlefoot gasped, and immediately he let out a beam of light from his mouth, which hit one of these creatures, that was coming in their direction.

"We don't have time for this!" Swift screamed, and he said, "Cera! You, Spike and Ducky go with the clubtail's group! The rest go with the onehorn's!"

The group didn't even had time to actually complain about that, and they could only do as the sailback said, and soon they were gathering with the said groups. But not before Cera raised up her head and spoken: "Littlefoot!"

"I'll be fine, I promise!" He said, "Now go!"

Cera looked at him, and she could only nod. "On my count!" Swift said, and he counted, "Three… two… now!"

As soon as he signed, the group of the clubtail, in which Cera, Spike and Ducky were, separated from the main group. Some of the members of that big cloud even looked at them, but they let them be. As Swift imagined, they were too busy going after their main target to care about anything else.

As the group separated for the rest of them without problems, they turned their attention to the other group. Petrie landed in the back of the onehorn, and Ruby to managed to climb in his back while she ran. The onehorn was not used to have passengers in his back, but considering the situation, he was not very much in the mood to actually complain about it. Not when there was a whole cloud of flying monsters coming right after him.

As Ruby and Chomper were safe in his back, they turned to the others, "Now you come Chomper!" Ruby said, stretching her hand in direction to the sharptooth. Chomper was already trying to reach her hand, when suddenly, one of the creatures was able to fly right over, and it almost bit Chomper's hand off! The sharptooth had, luckily, pulled his hand away before the creature was able to snap its jaws in him.

Even though Chomper escaped unscathed, the attack of the monster seemed to be enough to make the onehorn decide that he had already stayed in there for too long. So, he immediately started to run away, taking his group with him, including Ruby and Petrie, who were in his back.

"Chomper!" Ruby cried out as she was forcefully taken away from the small sharptooth that she was long ago encharged of protecting. As they got far, she could hear Littlefoot crying out to her. "I'll protect him! I promise!" That was the last thing that Ruby was able to hear before the onehorn started to lead them away from the main group, and she had the most worried of looks in her face as she saw Chomper slowly vanish form her sight.

Just as before, the cloud of Winged Creeps simply ignored the group that walked away. They were far too focused into their  ** _real_** target to really pay much attention in anything else. They continued to follow the main group, and the group now knew that they had successfully put all of… well, almost all of the innocent dinosaurs out of the danger's way.

Chomper was holding tightly into Littlefoot's neck, his eyes closed as he was still hearing the sounds of the creatures that were coming after them. He could still hear the sounds of the Order launching attacks to them, and the sounds that the creatures made as they died, and they sounded like loud and blood curling screeches that made Chomper feel a great lump in his stomach.

"Chomper!" Littlefoot said, and the small sharptooth was able to open his eyes slightly to look at the longneck, who still had his eyes focused into the path ahead of him, and he said, "I'll protect you! We all will protect you with our lives!"

Chomper blinked as he looked at Littlefoot, and he looked at the sides, and he saw Swift looking at him, and nodding, before he turned his head back to breathe another column of flames into the purchasing cloud. He also saw Nettle, whom despite looking to be scared herself, was able to force herself to smile and to make a positive sign with her hand as she looked at him, as if saying to him that it was going to be okay. Chomper was still scared with what was going on around him, and he felt like things could go bad at any moments. Still, the sight of the members of the Order being there and compromising themselves to protect him made him feel a bit more of easy. Littlefoot said that he would protect him, and Chomper knew that the longneck would never lie about something like that. Chomper trusted Littlefoot, and he knew that the longneck could keep his promise.

The cloud continued to chase them, and as the plan went on, they were able to lure them to a very open space, that was free from any trees, stones or other dinosaurs, and they were able to turn around and face the cloud. Littlefoot, Nettle and Chomper all passed, while Swift turned around, and he faced the incoming cloud with a very angry look in his face. His amulet, and soon after his whole body began to glow, and he opened his maw, and he screamed loudly.

" ** _FIRE BREATH!_** "

As he did, a huge wave of scorching-white flames jumped out of his mouth, and it collided head-on with the cloud of Winged Creeps. The cloud screeched as many of them were killed immediately, and as this happened, the cloud seemed to start to part itself in two as the creatures were still trying to advance, but at the same time they were avoiding the attack, and they were starting to circle the group.

* * *

Cera continued to look at the place where see could see smoke rising. It was the place in which the group was, and she was sure of that, and even if there was not the smoke rising, she could still make out the horrid sounds that were emitted by that cloud of monsters that were after her friends.

The rest of the group seemed to think that they have reached enough distance, and they had stopped and they were now seeming to be resting, breathing relieved for they had seemingly escaped from the monsters. Cera, however, knew better than that, she knew that the danger was still in there, and especially to who was in that main group; for she was sure that these Hollows were still after  ** _him_**. She knew that they would chase him, and of course that the Order would do all they could to protect him.

Cera felt impotent and useless, for a dear friend of her was in danger and she was able to do absolutely nothing to help. She knew that she could not fight, and that made her feel completely useless as she could only hear the sounds of the battle.

She wished to help. She wished that she could do something.

If at least she was stronger…

"Cera!" Someone called, and the young threehorn girl turned her head to look at the direction the cry come, right in time to see her father coming to her, followed close by Uri. She looked at them as they approached, and her father soon was nuzzling her. He was very worried with his .little girl, and while the affection was welcome, Cera felt that it was not time for that.

And Uri seemed to think like that too, and he immediately asked. "Others! Winged Creeps! Where!?" He barely seemed to be making coherent phrases, so much worried that he was with the rest of his friends and the situation itself.

"Follow the smoke!" Cera said simply, and Uri looked to the pillar of smoke raising, and the sound of the screeching. He immediately sprint to run in direction to the place it was coming from.

"Hang on, guys! I'm going!" Uri screamed, and Cera immediately was starting to go after him, but Topps stood on her way.

"And where do you think you are going, little lady?" He asked, and he looked down at her.

"I want to help!"

"Oh, no!" Topps said, adamantly, "The Order will deal with this!"

"But dad!"

"That is final!"

"My friend is in danger!" Cera said immediately, "These Hollows will not stop until they get him!"

"What?" Topps asked, looking down at Cera, and the threehorn girl realized too late that she had spoken too much…

* * *

The cloud was surrounding them, flying around them as the Winged Creeps all screeched and flapped their wings, creating a very disturbing symphony of sounds that would make any dinosaur recoil in fear. The order, however, had been specifically trained for these kinds of situations, and they were ready to take a stand into the fight and continue to the bitter end if it was the case and need.

Chomper, however, was still just a normal and shy dinosaur, and he was actually pretty vulnerable. He recoiled in fear as he felt the things around him closing in as they flew around, surrounding them from the sky as they formed a complete circle, obscuring the vision around them.

Littlefoot made Chomper go down from his back and stand into the ground, and as he did, the Order formed a circle around him, Littlefoot and Swift seemed to be with their teeth bared and ready to fight to the end. Even Nettle, who usually was shy and got scared easily, was in the mood for fighting, she was breathing deeply to calm herself down, and she seemed to be really determined, more than she usually was, and she seemed to actually be willing to fight against the Winged Creeps.

As soon as Chomper was in the center of the circle, the members of the Order immediately started to attack, as all of their amulets shone.

" **Light Roar!** "

" **Flame Breath!** "

" **Poison Roar!** "

All around, pieces of the cloud of Winged Creeps fell as they were hit either by Littlefoot's beam of light, by Swift's pillar of fire or by Nettle's torrent of whiteish poison. The dinosaurs of the Order continued to breathe out their attacks, and they seemed to be taking effect into the cloud as it screeched and moved to try avoiding the attacks. Even if the Hollows themselves had no true worry about their own safety, they knew that they had a mission to accomplish, and they knew that they had a mission to accomplish, given to them by their Master, and they had to fulfill it. It was what their instincts told them to do, and the instincts were the only thing that they truly had.

The cloud continued to move around, and they seemed to be almost be able to get the ring of their flight tighter around the dinosaurs. There were way too many of them. That was the dangerous thing about the Winged Creeps, when it was only a few, they were no great threat, but when there were a lot of them together, they could be the most dangerous kind of Hollow.

The members of the order knew it, and they knew that they should be able to keep up with them, but the number was making it excessively difficult to keep them away. These things were annoying as hell and they could be quite dangerous thanks to their great numbers.

And of course, it didn't helped that a few of them were breaking away from the cloud around and trying to get to the group while the rest of them continued to flight around in a circle. It forced the Order to split their attention into attacking the cloud to prevent a great attack, and attacking that ones that were coming to close, to prevent them from reaching and actually being able to do something to them.

Chomper, of course, was right in the middle, and as the things flew to try to reach them, he was able to catch a good glimpse of them. The creatures had the body of a flyer, but instead of having wing-arms, they had normal arms and legs, while the wings were a separated bone in their backs. They had long tails that ended into spike-like appendages in their tails that looked to be as sharp as a sharptooth's teeth, and they had many spikes in their backs and in their arms. They had the head of a fast biter, with long and very mean-looking horns in them, and theirs claws in both their hands and paws were mean looking, and they looked like they could be ferocious in a fight. They continuously snapped their jaws, as if they could simply not wait to get something in their mouths so they could start to chew in them viciously. Their eyes were completely black; they were empty, cold and soulless. On top of all of that, these creatures had the same aura that many Hollows seemed to have naturally: the aura of evil and cruelty that Chomper felt in the first time he ever looked at a creature like that, and just like the Order had already described to him and his friends. It was terrifying.

"There are too many of them!" Nettle cried out as she took a breather, before resuming her efforts into roaring white poison into the Hollows, making them sick and dying at an incredible fast rate. But it wasn't fast enough, as it seemed.

"He sent all of them here!" Swift said, dodging two Winged Creeps that tried to bite on him and rending them with his claws. "He wanted to be sure that there were enough of them to take care of us!"

"Look out!" Littlefoot cried out as a great mass of them was flying in direction to their circle. Swift and the others barely had time to react as they could only see that great amount of Winged Creeps flying in their direction, claws outstretched and mouths snapping viciously as they were ready to make a kill of whatever they could get their claws into.

" **Light Thorns!** "

Immediately, a flurry of spikes of light hit the cloud of Winged Creeps as if it was the rail of a Gatling gun. They all screeched and fell to the ground, vanishing into black dust as they died. The other members of the Order barely needed to see who it was to know exactly what happened.

Immediately, Uri passed under the closing flying ring of Winged Creeps in order to meet with the rest of his friends. In the center of it. "Sorry, I'm late!" He said wuickly,a she took a fighting pose along with them, and they all simply looked at him as they all nodded. Now was not the moment to talk, but to act, still, they were missing…

A loud roar called their attention, as they saw something big cutting past the cloud of Winged Creeps with big and orange-glowing claws that looked very long and mean. Terry landed into the ground, reeling as he looked back at the cloud, almost as if he was challenging it to come at him and try to get off a bite if it could.

"Terry!" Nettle cheered when she saw the big bonecrusher sharptooth, something many other dinosaurs would actually not do. She was really,  _really_  happy on seeing him again and knowing that he was in there.

The Bonecrusher looked at them, and ran to their spot. He cast a glance in all of them, and in Chomper, who was in the middle of the circle that the members of the Order had formed. He knew that there was no time to talk, but only to act, and looking at his students, he said, "Littlefoot, Swift and Uri, you take care of the cloud! Nettle, you stay with me." He said, and he took position right above Chomper, as if he was going to protect him. Nettle nodded back at him, and she stood next to him while the rest of the Order all nodded, and they left the circle, now ready to fight the cloud with all that they had.

Swift, of course, wasted no time into breathing more flames over the cloud, burning several of the Winged Creeps all at once, and making them fall to the ground in flames as they soon vanished into noting more than ashes and black dust, sometimes even before they hit the ground.

Littlefoot was next, and he was letting out beams of light from his mouth that hit the cloud. While the beams he let out were focused, Littlefoot was able to make up for it by swinging his head as he breathed, and as a result, his beam moved like a laser over the cloud, hitting a good number of the Winged Creeps and killing them. Littlefoot had the advantage of having a magic that was highly effective against the Hollows, and of his beam of light being at the speed of… well, light! As a result, the Hollows weren't able even to react when he shot the beams, and they died almost immediately under the attacks, disappearing completely into nothing more than black dust that soon vanished into the air, without leaving behind even clue that they had existed.

Finally, there was Uri. He was in the lack of long-range abilities, besides his  **Light Thorns** , but he was able to make it up with a very good aim that he had been developing, and he was already showing to have great skills into it. As he was able to shot several spikes in little time, and use them to hit the Hollows in great sequence of numbers. I was critically wounding them and making them fall to the ground, disappearing into black dust just a few moments later.

Of course, the Winged Creeps would not take that sitting out, so they of course started to attack back their attackers. They flew at them, teeth and claws bared and ready to rend and destroy their attackers. But of course, the members of the Order already had a lot of experience in close combat to be able to deal with the problems of that kind of attack, at the same time that they attacked the cloud. Swift was able to move around with the speed of a flame as the Hollows tried to attack him, and he answered with a swept of a claw right into the throat, what quickly caused the death of the Hollows, as he was still breathing his pillar of flames into the great cloud without seeming very much bothered. Of all the three, he was by far the one who had most experience in this kind of thing. He would have some difficulty, of course, but he was finely able to manage to deal with this situation and don't lose focus neither from his attackers and neither from the big cloud that he intended to destroy.

Uri had his own skills, and he was able to quickly dodge the attacks that came for him as he quickly repositioned himself and rained spikes of light over the Hollows that tried to attack him, making them let out loud screeches as they were pierced by the light that they hated and died immediately after. Of course, he was able to quickly recover from this and go back to raining spikes of light into the cloud, making many of them fall in sequence, as many of them were hit by his rail of light. Of course, it was hard to focus with all the attacks, but Uri was managing to do it, maybe not as good as Swift was, but he was able to keep a good square. He was able to keep up both for the ones attacking him and the ones into the cloud, which needed to be destroyed before they could have the chance to attack and hurt anyone else. That was definitely something that Uri could not allow to happen, even less when it was about his own friends, who were in the middle of this and who Uri didn't wanted to see all reduced to nothing but skeletons, as he already heard many times that the Winged Creeps could do when they were a cloud like that.

Finally, there was Littlefoot. The longneck was the newest of them, however, he was as skilled as the other two, and he was able to quickly jump out of the way of the attack of the Winged Creeps, and to answer with a very well placed  **Light Roar**. Each one of his attacks not only pierced the attacker but that also was directed back at the cloud, killing many of them as Littlefoot was able to keep the attack up. Littlefoot was showing to have amazing skill into fight, but he also showed that he had a very good will to fight like that against such dangerous enemies. That happened because there was too much in stake for him to ever consider losing. The lives of all of his friends and of everyone he cared about was in the balance, and he was not willing to let these things simply take them form him. Littlefoot knew the Order had goals and responsibilities, but right now, as the lives of the ones he held dear were at the balance he had no time to think about it, all he could think about was that he would not allow anything to take what he held dear away from him. He had to fight, he had to be strong, he had to protect the ones he loved and that was all that truly mattered at the given moment, and nothing else, not even his own life. That was why, each time that he let out a beam of light into the cloud, he felt even surer that he was doing the right thing, for he was impeding these things from ever hurting his friends or anyone else in the Valley, including Chomper.

The small blue sharptooth looked as the members of the Order were fighting into the distance with their powers against these monsters. All of them seemed to be handling pretty well, but Chomper noticed that the things were attacking them more and more, and that made him deeply worried. He was dreading the moment in which Littlefoot would not be able to be fast enough to dodge the attack of one of these jaws, and he dreaded the consequences of it would be, shuttering at the thought that Littlefoot would not survive. Littlefoot was the oldest of his friends, literally, the first one he had in his life. Losing him was something that Chomper really considered unthinkable, just as it would be losing any other of his friends.

"They are doing what they were trained to do." Terry's voice said, making Chomper look up at him, as the bigger sharptooth stood above him, just like a father protecting its hatchling. "They were trained to fight off the evil and to protect the innocent, and to ensure that this world would have a better future."

Terry looked down at Chomper, and he said, "We are going to protect you, little one, and we won't let anything bad happen to you." As he spoke, an orange glow formed into his small arms and started to grow, taking a peculiar shape, at the same time that groups of Winged Creeps flew in their direction. Terry then added, "I promise."

As he said it, the orange glow in his arms took a defined shape, and it looked like two long forms, each one ending into the big head of a fast biter, as big as Terry's own head, as the adult sharptooth cried out. " **Fast Snap!** "

He immediately turned his attention to the groups of Winged Creeps flying into them, and he stretched his arms, making the heads move up in their direction, and open up their mouths. They snapped their jaws right into the Winged Creeps, making them screech as they were chewed and they almost immediately died and disappeared into nothing more than black dust.

 _I will protect you._  Terry thought, as he crunched the Winged Creeps literally into nothingness.  _I won't fail this time. I won't let Carnage make other victim!_

The rest of the Hollows moved and dispersed, but soon, more of them were coming, and of course, Terry did not simply let it be, as he moved his body and quickly focused in each group that was flying, and he moved the heads and snapped the jaws in as many as he could. Needless to say, he was able to put in some good kills at a very close range, and this was proving to be greatly effective into the fight.

As he fought, some individual Winged Creeps were able to fly around, and they were even gathering in order to be able to attack him from behind, but as they were ready to jump at him, Nettle cried out.

" **Double Poison Fang!** "

Immediately, two tendrils of whiteish poison moved in front of the Hollows, hitting several of them at the same time, and lashing around like whips, hitting and poisoning the Hollows at the same time, making them fall around like dizzy buzzers at a great amount. Nettle might be shy and not like to fight, but in the current situation, she was forced to take the stand and help her dear friends for the sake of everything that they were meant to symbolize and protect.

She stood behind Terry, her back turned to him as they both now were covering not only Chomper, but also each other. Terry continued to move the fast biter heads in his arms and use them to bite and munch to death many of the Winged Creeps, while Nettle lashed the tendrils of half solidified poison as whips., hitting any Hollows that dared to come to close, poisoning them badly and making them fall in spinning motions a few moments later on. They were making a great duo, and Chomper stood in the middle of them, watching from all sides the Order doing what they were supposed to do and what they were trained their whole lives to do, as Chomper supposed.

Even if the situation was dire, and Chomper was scared for all of them and for himself, he could not avoid feeling amazed by what he was seeing. It was truly something amazing how well the order was able to fight against the Hollows, and how they made it seem natural, by the way they moved and combined their clear physical power with their magic to reach the full extent of their abilities in battle. It was something that made truly Chomper admire them more than he already did.

So, with Littlefoot, Uri and Swift attacking the cloud, and making it get smaller and smaller; and Terry and Nettle covering the poor Chomper from any attacks that could go in his direction, the Order continued to do their job. Many minutes had passed like that, until the attacks of the Hollows started to grow scarcer and scarcer, as the cloud was getting smaller and smaller.

It seemed that the Winged Creeps were finally starting to run low in numbers, and it was about time, but still, there seemed to be a good number of them left behind, and it was enough to cause the Order to get worried.

"There are still many of them!?" Uri cried out, starting to feel a bit tired from the attacks of the Hollows. He could notice that the cloud was much smaller than it was in the beginning, but it still to be around at least a thousand of them. "Carnage put a lot of effort into this!" He cried out, now barely even thinking on what he was saying, as he was too busy worrying about the attacks that were occurring to him and his friends.

"He is trying to win us in number!" Swift cried out, he too was far too worried with the fight in order to worry with what Uri had said, even considering that was an information that they wanted to keep secret. "But if he thinks we will give up easily, he is deeply mistaked!"

"We need to take care of them all!" Littlefoot said, getting tired of dodging the attacks of the Hollows. "Otherwise we might be in trouble."

Terry was able to hear it, and he totally agreed, and he said, "Swift! Nettle! Do like you two have trained! Take them all down!"

Nettle looked at Terry, and then at Swift, who looked back at her. She was worried that she could maybe not do it exactly as it was supposed to be done. Still, the worry that the things could actually hurt one of her friends was enough to force her to take a deep breath and look fiercely at Swift.

She nodded at him, and Swift nodded back, right before he dodged the attack of another Hollow, and hit it with a claw enveloped in white flames, making it disappear completely.

Nettle then recoiled her tendrils of poison, making them disappear in her hands. Then, she took a deep breath, and she outstretched her hands up to the sky, and a whiteish-yellow mist started to be emitted from it, and to move up, in direction to the sky, and to gather in it into a cloud.

Chomper and all the others watched at this, and as soon as the cloud was of a certain weight into the sky, it was Swift's turn to act.

The white sailback looked at the cloud, and his eyes shone white as his hands ignited in flames, and he let out a powerful stream of flames into then, that hit the smoke in the middle of the trunk that it made as it moved up. Immediately, the mist was ignited, and the fire travelled up the branch of mist until hitting the great cloud that was forming.

In this moment, Swift and Nettle screamed at the same time.

" **Burning Skies!** "

As they did, the cloud ignited into a cloud of the purest golden-white flames, that immediately cast a light into the sky, as bright as the midday bright circle. The Hollows all screeched as they instinctively wanted to go away from that, but the cloud was faster. Guided by both Swift and Nettle, the cloud of purely poisoned flames moved as if it was a big organism, and it started to sweep across the cloud, completely vaporizing several Winged Creeps before it could even touch them.

The shine of the cloud of flames could be perceived from al, of the Great Valley, and the ones who were close actually had to close their eyes and look away, not to be blinded by that glow. It only lasted for half a minutes, but it was enough for the golden flames to cover all of the air that the Winged Creeps were flying, reducing all of them to nothingness. The power was so intense that not even their ashes were left behind as a proof that they had even existed.

As soon as it was over, Swift and Nettle both stopped, and it took a few moments for the flames to completely disappear from the air. Swift was panting heavily, and Nettle dropped into the ground from the sheer exhaustion, laying in her belly as she panted heavily and tried to recover her breath.

There were very little Winged Creeps left after that, and Littlefoot and the others were able to take care of them in less than two minutes, completely clearing the area.

Soon after, the Order was regrouping, and Littlefoot passed by Swift, who was still breathing heavily as he supported himself with his hands in his knees. "You okay?" Littlefoot asked, and the sailback, without talking, only raised a hand, and put his thumb-claw up, as if he was signaling that he was okay. Littlefoot imagined that it was the max that he was going to get from Swift until he could recover his breath.

Littlefoot had already be taught of this collaboration techniques. Special attacks that two or more dinosaurs could do by combining their strength and their magic. He heard that they were very powerful, and he was already shown it, and it had always been amazing. However, these kinds of techniques demanded a great deal of power from all parts involved, not to mention that they demanded perfect synchrony of them, and this, of course, demanded a lot of training to be learned. They were extremely hard to make and they tended to be extremely tiring to who was making it.

The  **Burning Skies**  was a collaboration technique that Swift and Nettle had been working for quite a while, and Nettle had already said that it was something impressive, and in fact, Littlefoot had found it to be simply amazing. Still, the current events, with the attack of the Hollows and the threat to the safety of all of his friends, actually made him too much worried for him to be able to act properly amazed. His mind was too focused on other things.

Soon, they were all gathering around Terry, who had already dismissed his fast biter hands, and Chomper was with them in there. "Anyone hurt?" Terry asked, and they all shook their heads "no", including Swift, who was starting to recover his breath. Nettle was still having troubles to stand, as she was feeling dizzy from the tiredness that she had to make.

Chomper looked at them, as they talked.

"He is getting more aggressive." Littlefoot said, and Uri said, "Yeah, we are talking about Carnage, we know that the guy is crazy in the head."

"Still, making so many Winged Creeps in so little time, and sending they all at once, he is planning something." Terry said, and he looked at his students, "He might be vicious and blood-thirsty, but we must not forget that he is also very smart."

Chomper looked at them, and he asked, "T-this 'Carnage'…" All the eyes turned to him, and he continued, "I-is he the one who is trying to attack the Great Valley?"

There was a silence, as the members of the Order shared a look among themselves, and some of them had very different looks form each other as they looked among each other. Littlefoot approached Chomper, and he seemed about to say something, when other voices called their attention.

The members of the Order looked, and they saw many dinosaurs approaching them, and the way they were calling for them did not seemed amiable.

"They look angry." Said Uri, stating the obvious, and Swift them spoke:

"Some dinosaurs were catch by the cloud." The others looked at him, and Swift spoke. "Only their bones were left."

Terry looked at him, and at Littlefoot and Nettle, and the expressions in their faces confirmed this, and it also added worry to the bonecrusher sharptooth. As he saw the dinosaurs approaching, many of them looking to be angry, and being led by four domeheads, he knew that from now on things would get a lot more complicated.


	16. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the attack of the Winged Creeps, everyone is scared, and now, the Order finally reveals the whole truth of what is going on, and who they are trully facing in there...

"Turn back!" Ruby said, almost pulling into the neck-crest of the onehorn, as she wanted him to turn around and go back. "You have to turn back! We need to catch Chomper! We need to see if he is okay to be sure he is okay!"

"Are you Crazy!?" The onehorn said, his group has already stopped running since they separated from the original group, but they had already were still willing to move far from the direction that they believed that the battle was happening.

Sure, the sounds of screeching and the distant flapping had stopped in the moment that strong shine came from that direction, and it was a signal that the battle had ended and that the danger had passed. For ruby, it was a signal that they could go back to check if Chomper was okay.

The rest of the group, however, was still not so keen about returning to the place that they had ran from to avoid end up as dinner to a whole cloud of flying sharpteeth monsters.

"I don't want to go back there!"

"Me neither!"

"Nah-ah!"

"But Chomper is in there!" Ruby said, looking at them, "The monsters are gone, and I need to go back to Chomper! I need to see if he is okay! I need to watch over him, is my responsibility!"

"I'm not going back!" Said the onehorn, freeing himself from her hold and turning away. "What if some of these things escaped?"

"One more reason for we to check on Chomper!" She said, sounding very adamant about it. "Please, we need to go see if he is okay, he is just a kid!"

"Oh, for goodness sake! He is a sharptooth!" Said the onehorn, looking at her, "Do you think he would risk himself for us? I don't think so!"

"Don't talk like that about Chomper!" Ruby said, now getting increasingly angry at the onehorn, that not only was refusing to help but also was now bad-mouthing Chomper, and that was more than enough reason to Ruby to get mad and use a tune of her voice that she did not usually used. "He is a very good kid! He is kind. He is gentle. And he does anything and everything for his friends! Of course he would go there to help if it were you!"

"Well, I wouldn't!" The onehorn said, shamelessly admitting it, and he added, "I'm not willing to risk my life for him or for anyone else. Dammit, I don't even know him!"

"He is just a kid!" Ruby insisted, looking at him in the eye, "He is probably scared to death, and I need to find him!"

"The dinosaurs of the Order are with him, right?" One of the dinosaurs of a group, a twocrest swimmer, said, and he also said, "They probably are watching him right now, and they had him covered the whole time." He had no true way of knowing, he was more searching for ways of convincing the fast runner to give up going in there. If he did, then maybe they wouldn't need to go back to the place where the flying monsters could probably be and risk being bitten and eaten alive like these poor lads that they had saw being reduced to bones in seconds. He doubted that any of the ones who saw that disturbing scene would be able to sleep any good into that same night, seeing whole dinosaurs being reduce to nothing but clean bones in a matter of seconds was indeed something disturbing.

Ruby, however, was showing to be as stubborn as a threehorn would be, as she stood her ground. "I'm responsible for him!" She said, looking at them, as if she was asking them to have a little compassion for her and for Chomper also. "I promised to his parents that I would watch over him and made sure that he was fine and safe! And I promised to Chomper that I would always be there for him and that I would always come back to save him!"

Indeed, in the day that Ruby was firstly uncharged of watching over Chomper and keeping him safe, she noticed that he was deeply scared and also sad for being away from his parents, after being under their care for so long. Ruby knew that this made him sad, and she decided to make a promise to that little kind sharptooth that she was responsible for: she promised to him that she would always be there for him, and that she would always keep him safe. It was promise that Ruby had made to him, and she always kept her promises, especially that one, that in result, made that little and innocent sharptooth smile at her, the same way that her own little brothers had smiled to her many times in the past.

"I have to keep my promise." Ruby said, more to herself than to them. But soon, she raised her head and looked at all of them, with that same pleading-like look in her face. "I need to go back for Chomper! I need to see him and make sure that he is fine! I need to see if he is okay! Please… he is just a kid."

"I'm not going!" The onehorn said adamantly. "I'm not risking my neck for a sharptooth kid I don't even know. You might go by yourself if you are so interested, but I'm not going anywhere near that place anytime soon!" He said, planting his foot in the ground to signal his point.

Ruby glared at him, a look that would make any smaller dinosaur corner in fear, as if she was trying to bore holes in his hide only with the rage in her look. After a while, she simply ruffed at him as she turned around and started to walk away. It seemed that she had just accepted his suggestion, and now she was going to the place she last saw Chomper to look for him and to check him out.

All by herself.

"Ruby, wait!" Cried Petrie, who had been hiding behind the neck-fin of the onehorn all the time, and only now had finally decided to come out (much to the dinosaur's relief and pleasure) and he was now flapping his wings madly to reach Ruby.

He flew right next to her head, as he said, "Ruby, you can't go alone!"

"Petrie, if you won't help me then stay out of my way." Ruby said rather drily, a kind of treatment that she usually didn't used to her friends. However, the current situation that she was passing by was not exactly the one that allowed her to use her regular mood with the ones who she held dear. She was far too worried with Chomper's wellbeing and angry at the dinosaurs who let him alone at his own luck to mind being polite and nice.

Petrie flinched as he was spoken like that by Ruby. He was worried about her, and he knew that going back in there without an adult near was too dangerous. He too was worried about Chomper, and he to wanted to know if the young sharptooth was okay, but going on there alone was far too dangerous for him and Ruby. Maybe they could at least try to talk a bit more with the other adults and convince them to go there with them, so they wouldn't be in danger.

"Ruby, me just worried." Petrie said, as he continued to fly around her head, but she ignored him and continued to look and walk forward, her face deadly serious, and also seeming to let know that she was angry. Petrie didn't frequently saw Ruby angry, so it was kind of scary to see her like that. She could be very intimidating when she was like that, as Petrie had found out.

"Ruby, please, Chomper me friend too!" Petrie said as he continued to flap his wings around her head, like a buzzer, "We cannot go all alone, the monsters will see and catch us both." He spoke, trying to reason with her, but she continued to ignore him. "We must go with adults there. We talk more with adults and convince them to go-"

"Why!?" Ruby said to him suddenly, making him cry out and drop to the earth. He stood in there as she continued, almost towering over him. "For them to tell us that they are too sacred to go? Or for them to say that Chomper doesn't deserve their time or their worry only because he is a sharptooth? They are not going to help!"

Ruby seemed very angry as she spoke that, and indeed, she was. She was angry as she only remembered having got in very few moments of her life, and she had very good reasons to.

"They are all scaredy eggs!" She spoke loud enough for the adults to hear her, and they all, specially the onehorn, looked at her as she spoke that, and she turned to them, and she continued. "Chomper is a good boy, and he deserves to be treated with respect!"

She stood to them as she spoke that, "Many times he, along with all of us, risked his safety to be sure that the Great Valley was safe and free from danger! He did it all for you, and so, I expected that you could do so for him!"

The onehorn snorted at her, while the other adults traded looks among themselves, they all looked to be somewhat ashamed and even guilty.

Good.

Ruby continued her tirade. "But you all rather abandon him, after all that he has done and after all the efforts that he made! How many times Chomper already showed that he deserves your trust and your admiration? Was that all not enough!? Well, it seems that it wasn't, for you all are not willing to risk yourselves for him! But I am, because unlike you, I admire Chomper truly for all that he does and all that he risks in all of the adventures that we had together!"

And with that, Ruby turned around and started to walk away again, and Petrie continued to fly around her head, trying to convince her to give it one more try to convincing the adults. However, the fast runner was convinced that none of them was going to help, and so, she continued to walk away as the adults looked at her as she went, and some of them were mumbling among themselves, while the onehorn took one step forward.

"Oh, you wanna go save your dear sharptooth!? So you can go!" He screamed at her, but she didn't even bothered to turn round to look at him. "If you wanna risk your life for someone who would eat you for lunch, then this is fine by me!" He said, and turned around, but he saw that all of the other dinosaurs had looks in their faces as they looked at the young fast runner, walking away.

After a few moments, one of them started to go after her, seeming to be wanting to catch up with her.

Onehorn was shocked.

"Wha- where are you going!?" He said, and as he spoke, other two dinosaurs stepped forward, and they too were walking to catch up with the fast runner, and Onehorn looked at them as they went, and as he was dumb folded, other two stepped forward and walked to catch up with her.

"What are you all doing!?" He cried out as they were going for her, "You really are risking your lives for a sharptooth!? Seriously!?" He said, as another one moved on and was now at a quick pace to keep up with the rest.

"He is a meat eater! He is not worth risking our necks! These things are going to eat you all alive only because you decided that the little sharptooth was worth it!" As he spoke, other three from the group were now walking in direction to Ruby, going faster to be able to catch up with the group.

"Oh, please! This is madness!" The onehorn said as he stomped hard into the ground, and soon, the last one of the group besides onehorn, a tubehead, stepped forward and was going to the rest of the group. "You are all going to regret this, mark my words!" the onehorn said to the tubehead, who looked back at him.

"I don't know that little guy very well." The tubehead spoke to him, "And he might be a sharptooth, but you gotta admit that he already did a lot for us of the Great Valley."

The way he spoke it left the onehorn loss of words. He continued, "He is just a kid, and I guess that he already showed that his intentions are good, don't you agree?" He spoke that, and he ran to catch up with the group returning to ground zero, just to check out on Chomper and to see if he was okay.

The onehorn stood behind, mumbling something to himself as he watched them all go, and after a while, he looked at them as they were walking away from him. He looked at them ground, and he mumbled to himself. "I must be out of my mind." That was only a few seconds before he started to run to catch up with the returning group, from which some were already at the same level ahead as Ruby.

None of them realized that they were being watched by a Winged Creep. It looked t them with eyes that were far too smart for a Hollow, as it had the most creeping intelligent smirk in its face as it looked at them.

" _So touching._ " It spoke in the sharptooth language, as it watched the group, specially the two dinosaurs that were in the front, the young flyer and the fast runner girl. " _Friends are not only willing to risk themselves for their dear friends, but they are also ready to convince others to do so for the very same cause._ " It spoke, and as it did, more and more pairs of red eyes appeared from the shadows, and they snarled and growled as they started to move forward, and the Winged Creep seemed to be just ready to lead the owners of these eyes.

" _Now, lets see if it is just this fast runner girl, or if all of the friends are willing to do this…_ "

* * *

"They have brought their own problems into our Valley!" The domehead said as he pointed at the Order, who were gathered into the middle of other residents of the Valley, and many of them roared in concordance with the domehead. The Order looked around, Terry with the calm but serious look in his head; Uri, Nettle and Littlefoot all looked around worried. All while Swift was looking around snarling, as if he was daring anyone to try coming and getting a fight with him and the Order to see what was going to happen.

Littlefoot's friends and grandparents were standing into the sidelines, all of them deeply worried. In fact, the Great Valley had already saw somethings happened since the arrival of the Order. Bad things. Scary things. But today there were deaths. Today lives had been lost, and it seemingly was due to the arrival of the Order. Poor dinosaurs, who were someone's friends, children, parents, siblings and relatives had been completely devoured by these monsters, reduced completely to nothing more than bones, and that was something that had completely horrified the residents of the Great Valley, enough for these four domeheads to be able to talk them into revolting against the Order.

And this time, it would be hard even for Littlefoot's grandparents to talk their way out of that.

"You have brought your own problems into our Valley!" The domehead said, roaring as he pointed an accusing finger at the members of the Order. "No, you will leave our Valley and take these problems with you, so we can all go back to our normal lives!" As he spoke that, many of the residents of the Great Valley actually roared in approval, as the members of the Order continued to stand into their circle, either pitying or scoffing at the residents of the Valley.

They knew that if they simply left the problems would not simply follow them, and it would not solve the lives of the residents of the Great Valley. Right in the opposite, it could make things even more complicated for all of them, once there would be no one in there to protect them from the enemy and his Hollows. Of course, the residents of the Great Valley didn't knew that, and they were all sacred out of their minds, enough so they would follow the first one who offered to them a chance of solution and of having back their peaceful lives, even if the argument that was presented to them was anything but flawed.

Of course, there were still the residents of the Great Valley who were on the side of the Order, and they were not wasting time into vocalizing their support to them against the group that wanted to chase them out of the Valley. Sure, it was only a mattr of time before these two sides started to argue among themselves, and soon, it would escalate into a physical conflict. The Order knew that, and they knew that fighting among themselves would only cause things to go worse for everyone. These were the kinds of battles in which there were no winners, and it seemed to be getting worse quickly…

"STOP THAT!"

All the dinosaurs immediately stopped fighting and went silent, as they looked at the source of that powerful cry, which just happened to be surprisingly small.

Chomper stood in there, in front of the Order, and standing in front of them as he stared at the dinosaurs ahead, his little fists clenched into fists, and his face a mask of the purest determination as he panted slightly. Everyone looked surprised at him, including the Order. Including Littlefoot.

"Chomper?"

"Why are you all acting like that?!" The small sharptooth almost demanded as he looked around, and the tune he used made all of the ones around flinch slightly, despite the small size of the young sharptooth. "Why you all changed all of sudden?!"

There were a few moments of silence before someone spoke, "Because our friends and family were killed by these monsters! Monsters that only appeared in here because of them!"

Chomper turned to the source of the voice. "But how do you know so much that it was their fault!?"

"Because none of these horrible things ever set foot into the Great Valley before they arrived!" Someone else said after a few more moments of silence, and once mor, the other residents agreed, and some of them were really throwing insults and curses at the Order, while other half of the residents started to defend the Order, and after a few moments, Chomper screamed something hat almost sounded like a roar.

"STOOOOOP!"

Everyone stopped and they went silent once more, looking surprised at the small sharptooth, who was showing to have an amazing set of lungs. The fact that he almost roared just then was also adding to their source of their surprise. The Order looked at Chomper, they all as surprised as everyone else that someone so young was able to have such a powerful voice.

Chomper barely minded that he almost roared, in fact, it was the closest to a roar that he had ever got in his life, and he had already tried to roar in the past. In other situation, he would be amazed with himself, and even admired with his own feat, but them, at that given moment, he was far too caught up in the moment to actually give it attention. All his focus was turned to the situation that they all were in, and his looked was turned to the dinosaurs who were turning against the Order.

"The Order only wants to help." Chomper said, looking all around, and he added, "They had been doing the best they could in the past days to protect us! They put their own lives in danger to do it!"

He looked all around, to see if everyone was paying attention to him, and they all seemed to still be amazed that a boy his age was now starting to make a speech like that. Chomper continued:

"They had come because the problem was starting, they told us that!"

"That is what they say!" Someone said, and Chomper immediately said back, "And I believe them!"

This made whoever talked go silent, and the young sharptooth continued. "I believe in them. I believe in them when they say that they want only to help us and that they want to make sure that we are all safe and sound. I know in my heart that they are telling the truth."

"Why would be that?" Someone asked, "Would it be because they agree with your plan of sharpteeth and leaf eaters being friends?"

"Or would it be because the longneck has been your friend?"

"Or is it because just today they saved your life?"

Chomper looked to all at them, as the ones around agreed with the ones who asked these questions, and he said, "Is because all of that! And is because they didn't needed to do anything!"

This actually made the crown go silent, as they all looked at Chomper, as he seemed to have caught into a very important subject. "They came to our Valley, and they risked their lives in order to protect us all from the Hollows, and we never asked them to do it."

The crowd was forced to agree with Chomper, as he continued. "They came in here and they fought for us. They protected us, and they fought with all they could so we could all be safe from this danger, and they didn't needed to do that."

"They could have simply said 'hey, it is not our problem' and walked away, but instead they stayed and fought for us." Chomper spoke as he looked all around, to all of the dinosaurs that where now looking at him as he spoke with a passion that was very rare to see in a kid.

"They risked a lot by coming here and protecting us, when they had no need to do so, and they are still risking everything to try and protect us, even if some of us were not nice to them." Chomper spoke, shooting a hard glare to the domeheads, who bared their teeth and growled at him, but Chomper did not allowed them to intimidate him, not this time.

"Even so, they are still doing their best for us, for all of us. Even if at some point we don't really deserve it, they are still doing their best to help and to protect us. During their time in here, they did nothing to show that they are not our friends and that they don't want us well, but they gave us only more reasons to believe them."

Chomper looked all around, "And I believe them for that. I believe that they are our friends, and that they want our good. I know it in my heart, and I think that you all should give them a chance, us like you all did when they first arrived in this Valley."

There was a long silence as the crowd took in the words of the young sharptooth. Words which were full of meaning and with the kind of will of heart that it was rare to see in someone so young. Needless to say, the Order was truly admired by the strength and the heart of the young sharptooth.

Littlefoot was truly admired with his dear friend who stood for him and the rest of the Order, and Swift and Terry traded a look among themselves. A look that said much more than words would be able to actually say. Indeed, Chomper was proving to be just as impressive and valorous as they had expected him to be, if not more.

The silence was broke by the sounds of clapping, and all of the eyes turned to look at the source.

It was the domehead, and he was clapping his hands as he had a neutral expression, and he looked at Chomper.

The crowed looked curious at him, some with surprise, and the Order had a bad feeling about that.

The domehead simply continued to clap, as he walked a bit more, and he said, "That was a very nice speech… for a sharptooth."

He stopped clapping, and he only looked at Chomper, before he resumed talking, and this time, his tune was very calm, but still, there was some kind of power and potency behind it, as if he was using some kind of contained anger behind his calm demeanor to power it.

"But, I guess that you need to remember yourself that all of these problems we are having now never had come to us before your dear friends showed up." He spoke as he pointed an accusing finger to the Order.

"Some of which are sharpteeth, just like you! I guess now you are feeling in the need to help them since they are your own people, ain't I right?" The domehead continued that kind of speech he was giving had caught Chomper off guard, and left him with no words.

"They had come to our doorstep and in the very same moment, all started to go wrong." The domehead continued, speaking loudly so everyone could hear his words. "They show up and in the same day we start to be attacked by these monsters, monsters that they seem to know a lot more about than they actually show, but they refuse to share this information with us."

The crowd around started to mumble among themselves once again, and some of them were actually agreeing that the domehead, indeed, had a point. "It was already clear to us since the first days that they knew more than they were saying! They told us that they didn't knew what this 'enemy' was, only for we to discover a day later that they knew indeed who it was, and they decided not only to not give us this information, but also to lie to us about that and purposely leave us in the dark!"

The crowd was starting to agree with the domehead, and he continued, to speak. "They also showed that they know exactly what this enemy wants, but they don't want us to know what it would be! May I ask the reason?" He looked at the Order, but before any of them could formulate an answer, he answered himself.

"Maybe because it would not be convenient for you if he got what he wanted and left our Valley alone? For if that happened, we would no longer have any need to allow you to stay here, since we would no longer be in any danger! Maybe it is convenient for you that this enemy keeps interest into the Great Valley, so we would need to keep you around for as long as you wanted, right?"

That affirmation was so wrong, in so many levels, that even Swift could not come up with any answer for that. Instead, he limited himself to bare his teeth and to hiss at the domehead, while the rest of the Order looked at him surprised with horror. The domehead took their silence as the sign that he was making a good point in there, and so, he continued to speak.

"By the way, I have my own doubts about the veracity of all that is happening!" The domehead said, "It is very interesting that an enemy that we never heard before, controlling these monsters that we never heard about or seen before, appeared in the same day that  _you_  showed up in our Valley!"

"This seems rather convenient, in my opinion!" He spoke, and let the crowd talk, and it seemed that he was convincing more and more of them as he was speaking. He continued. "It is very strange that a group with two sharpteeth into them would have any interest into helping us, or that you would be able to come to us right before the problem actually started!"

The crowd was agreeing with the domehead more and more as he spoke, and this was worrying all the ones that were on the Order's side, as well as the Order itself. They looked around as the dinosaurs cast them mistrustful looks that seemed as if they were being kept hidden for a long time now, only to come out in the moment of that speech.

"How convenient that you appear in here and offer us your special kind of help for the first time we ever need it! And against an enemy that none of us know who is, but you seem to know a lot about, and refuse to give us any information, as well as for what motivations this enemy would have!"

As he spoke, the crowd was starting to agree with him more and more, and they were starting to make an uproar in agreement with the domehead. "Now, you all might call me crazy for it, but I'm not willing to trust my own safety into you!" The domehead said, pointing another accusing finger at the Order. "Not when you all could very well be ulterior motives to do the things you do! In fact, I think that it could be better for all of us if you simply left our Valley and let us go back to our normal lives, like they were before you even showed up!"

"And you!" He said, pointing another claw at Chomper, who took a step back as the domehead was now pointing at him. "Since you seem to like the Order so much, then maybe you should go with them! After all, the Great Valley was never a place for sharpteeth! Just leave with them already and let us, leaf eaters, leave our lives in peace!"

The crowd then almost roared as they were agreeing completely with the domehead. Of course, the ones that were still on the Order's side were still in there, but their voices got drowned into the hate-fuelled cry that was being emitted in agreement with the domehead's words. The Order looked around at the dinosaurs, many of which seemed to be ready to hunt them down to outside of the Great Valley right in that same moment.

And they were not the only ones feeling the pressure.

Chomper, suddenly being a target of all that hate, felt himself small and fragile, as if all of these dinosaurs could jump at him in any second to attack him. He gave steps behind, unable to talk or come up with any words to answer to all of that hostility, all of sudden. He could only look around in horror, as he walked to the Order, as a baby sharptooth would seek the shelter and protection of its parents when faced with a threat to its life.

As soon as he was near, Swift immediately stepped up and stood between Chomper and the rest of the crowd, snarling at them as he put the sharptooth under his wing and he seemed almost to be defying everyone to try to make anything to him in his presence. The crowd continued to roar at them in anger, drowning the voices of their supporters as they let the fear and the hate take control over them and define what their actions would be.

Terry looked around, and he knew that the situation was, most likely, loss. Their mission now would be nearly impossible if that continued, and they knew that trying to use their magic or forcing their staying would only make their position with the rest of the Valley worse than it already was. They were now into a very difficult situation, and Terry found himself praying to the Spirits that something would come to help them in that moment of need.

The Spirits were very interesting, indeed. Sometimes, when you prayed to them, the answered to your prayers, and sometimes, it could be in ways that you did not expected…

"STOP THAT!"

A voice boomed with potency over the roaring of the crowd.

"STOP THAT NOW! NO ONE IS CHASING ANYONE OUT OF THE GREAT VALLEY!"

Mr. Threehorn spoke as he was standing between the crowd and the Order, and they all looked at him, and he continued to say, "I'm not allowing anyone to be chased out of the Valley tonight!"

This caught everyone by surprise completely.

Mr. Threehorn, the same dinosaur who was badmouthing the Order, putting their credibility in doubt, raising suspicious about them, and saying that they did not belonged into the Valley since day one, was now defending them?

"What is that now!?" Asked the domehead, looking at Threehorn as if he was a traitor, and he said, "You are on their side now? What happened to you?"

Threehorn was not going to let himself be intimidated so easily, and he said, "I already said!"

"You have been in favor of chasing them out since they arrived!" The domehead said, venting with anger, "What is this sudden change of heart? Did they talked their way into you?"

"I just decided that being stupid and acting out of fear was not an answer!" The threehorn spoke, and his words were surprising everyone in there, and the threehorn continued.

"But I could ask many of you the same thing!" Threehorn added ad he looked at the crowd, "You have accepted and taken the Order in here when they arrived, even against my opinion, and now, only because things are going bad and because you feel scared you all decide to follow the same way of thinking I do?"

This surprised the residents of the Valley, and they all went silence as they looked at each other, and at the threehorn, who continued to talk. "I know that I'm hard to deal with, but I already know when to see that someone is acting out of pure fear, and you all are doing it now!" He looked around, and he continued to say, "And I have to say that acting solely out of fear is never the answer to anything! It does no one any good, and I was already expecting many of you to already know it well!"

The words of the threehorn had a great impact, and the crowd of dinosaurs looked at the ground as they looked to almost be ashamed of themselves. The crowd looked surprised at Mr. Threehorn, barely believing that the old bull had really stood up and defended them, after all of the things that he had said about them. Uri, particularly, felt kind of proud of himself, as he knew that he had made the good thing to approach the threehorn and let him know that they were not dangerous at all, and it seemed that the older guy had got it, and he was finally starting to like them.

"But… I can't deny that you are right about one thing." Threehorn added, catching everyone's attention again. He turned to the Order, and he said, "You really have been keeping secrets from us."

Everyone was getting confused, but Threehorn barely minded, and he continued to look at the order, as he spoke out. "You really hid from us that you knew who this enemy was! You hid from us what it wanted! You hid form us WHO it wanted!"

The Order got surprised at he spoke that, and Littlefoot, feeling something gripping his stomach, looked over to where Cera was. The yellow threehorn looked at him with dread, and mouthed an "I'm sorry", before turning her head away and looking to the ground in shame.

The rest of the residents too got surprised as they heard threehorn speak that. He had said "who". It meant that it was a person that this enemy wanted? A specific dinosaur?

"You have knew all of that all along, and you refused to tell us! So sorry if we have a little problem putting trust in you!" Threehorn said, and the crowd once more mumbled among themselves, agreeing with the threehorn into what he was saying. The Order continued to look around, and they looked specially at Mr. Threehorn, who still had that firm look in his face, but at the same time, it was not that aggressive look that they had seem many times already.

"You are all acting like trust is something that we should give to you, but trust must be deserved!" Threehorn said at them, "Trust goes both ways, otherwise it nerve gets to work! If you want to trust you, then you will have to trust in us!"

He looked at each member in the eyes as he continued to speak, "And you can start by telling us the truth! The WHOLE truth! No more lies, half-truths or secrets!"

There was a mumbling of agreement from the crowd as they all looked at the Order, they all completely agreeing with the Threehorn in his words. If the Order really wanted so bad to have their trust, then they needed to show that they deserved by being completely honest with them.

The Order could only trade looks among themselves in silence, as they absorbed all that the threehorn had said to them. Indeed, they had hidden things from them from the first day, but it was for the shake of their mission, and to prevent things from taking a bad path. They only had the best intentions in mind as they kept these information in secret in order to avoid the residents to panic and to do something stupid.

Still, right now it seemed that the decision of keeping things as a secret could not have been the best thing to do in that situation. One of them in particular.

"You are right." Littlefoot said aloud, as he stepped forward, and all the eyes turned to him as he stood up. "We'll tell you everything."

"Littlefoot…" Terry said, but the longneck turned to him.

"No!" He said firmly, "They have been through a lot! They trusted us blindly since we arrived in the Great Valley! They deserve to know! Especially Chomper!"

This made the Order go silent, as they all shared another round of looks, and it was clear that they all agreed with Littlefoot at some point. Terry himself knew that he agreed with the young longneck, and he knew that now there was not more how to hide the truth from them. Not if they wanted to continue with their mission. He closed his eyes, and he simply nodded, signaling to Littlefoot that he agreed, and that it was time for the truth.

"M-me?" Chomper said, getting the attention of everyone. The young sharptooth heard that Littlefoot had mentioned his name, and he talked as if Chomper was an important part of it, and he looked around, now curious, but at the same time kind of startled. "W-what I deserve to know and why?"

They all shared a look, and Swift looked at the young sharptooth, and he knew that there was not a light way to put it all, so he decided to simply say it at once:

"Because the Hollow are after you."

Chomper let out a gasp as he heard it, terror gripping his heart, and as he did, the crowd around, who had also heard it, started to mumble among themselves. So, it was all because of that little sharptooth? That was the reason of everything? But, how?

Terry managed to give a hard glare at Swift for saying it like that, but, deep down, he knew that there really was no light way of explaining things, still, Swift could at least try to have a little more of softness with these things. With a sigh, the old bonecrusher sharptooth decided to explain better.

"The Hollow are being sent here by a dinosaur in order to catch you." He explained, making the younger sharptooth look up at him. Chomper was scared now, and as he looked up at the older sharptooth, he only mumbled to say:

"W-what dinosaur? Why?"

Terry looked at him, and at the rest of the crowd, all of which seemed to have as much desire for answers as the young sharptooth before him. With a sigh, he continued to explain to them:

"He is a horned sharptooth, an old enemy of the Order." He said, loud and clear for everyone around to hear him. "His name is Carnage."

The crowd mumbled a little among themselves, but most of them remained in silent as they looked at the adult sharptooth, who was finally giving to them the answers that they wanted. Terry continued.

"We don't know very much of his past, but we know is that a few years ago he appeared with some speeches that he spread among the sharpteeth." He explained to them, "Speeches about how the sharpteeth were powerful and great, and how they deserved to rule the world, and how they should impose their power over this world and make the leaf eaters accept their place as their food."

The crowd was getting increasingly worried at this, and Terry continued. "He made all kinds of speeches, attracting the sharpteeth with promises of food, of shelter, of power, and of power. He started to gather some followers that were obeying him and going by his philosophies of power and conquer. They all talking about the future of the sharpteeth and the good of their race."

Terry spoke the last line as if the words were leaving a bad taste in his mouth, and Swift too snarled as he heard that. "But, if you want to know my opinion, Savage does not care about the future of sharpteeth, he never did, he only cares about himself." He walked around as he spoke more, "He wants sharpteeth to be the rightful rulers of the world, but he only wants so if he can be their ruler, their leader. All he wants is power, and he is willing to use his own kind to do so."

The crowd all mumbled among themselves. A sharptooth that was gathering other sharpteeth into what seemed to be a big herd with the objective of imposing their power over the world? It was enough to make any of them have creeps when thinking about it. Terry continued.

"Of course, someone as ambitious as Carnage would not hesitate into using Hollows to attend to his desires, and he started to make them march with his followers into places, attacking and destroying what was in their path as they walked. That was when the Order firstly decided to stand up against Carnage."

Terry stopped for a moment, and he sighed, before continuing. "We stood against him the best he could, but someone with an ambition like his' could not be defeated easily, even by us. We already faced him many times in the past, and in these fights, we lost some of ours. Valorous warriors, brave fighters." Terry remained in silence, and he finally said, "Two of them were my daughter and her mate."

There as a heavy silence as they all looked at the sharptooth, who continued to stand in there, before he finally let out a heavy sigh, and he continued, "Still, Carnage proved to be eluding us. Each time that we came close of finally ending his madness, he managed to slip between our claws and escape to continue with his insane plans. He proved many times to be one of the greatest treats that the Order of Leaf and Claw has faced in its recent story. He is dangerous like very few enemies had ever been."

The crowd mumbled among themselves, and now they were genuinely scared of this enemy, who seemed to be even more dangerous than they had firstly imagined, and they all were now scared of a whole army of sharpteeth invading the Great Valley, with this Carnage leading them into their grounds.

Still, there was someone who still managed to ask:

"But, why does he wants the little sharptooth?" Someone into the crowd said, and the crowd stopped and agreed with him. The Order had not yet explained that to them.

Chomper too was interested, and he asked, "Y-yeah… w-why he is after me?"

"To prevent the prophecy from fulfilling." Swift said, and all the eyes turned to him, some surprised, some confused.

Prophecy?

"Prophecy?" Chomper asked, confused with all of that, and Swift said, "The prophecy of the Spirits to the seven brothers." He said, but this made nothing to ease the confusion into the mind of the young sharptooth, who actually seemed a bit more confused.

Uri stepped forward, and he said, "A prophecy is something that tells about what is going to happen before it happens. It is a prediction of the future." Chomper looked at him with wide eyes, but he was still a bit confused, and Terry sighed, he walked to Chomper, and he said:

"Young one, do you remember the story I told you? About the Seven Brothers?"

Chomper looked up at him, and he nodded, and as he did, Terry said, "Well, there is a part of the story I didn't told." Chomper looked surprised at him, and Terry said, "A part that is very important, and it is about you."

"Me!?" Chomper said, and Terry added, "Well, we believe it is about you." He said, and he continued, "It is like this:…"

* * *

_…"Can I go back to eat plants?" Sharptooth asked hopeful, but the spirits answered sadly, "_ **_It's not that simple. We cannot undo what is done._ ** _" Sharptooth lowered his head in sadness "_ **_But, we can tell you that, we can work for the future, for your descendants to be able to live in peace with one another. With our help, and yours when you join us here, this can happen._ ** _"_

_This, however, didn't seemed to be enough for Sharptooth, who still seemed to be unsure of what was going to happen. He was sad, and he was scared. Once his future seemed to be bright and full of promises, now, all he could see in his own future was darkness._

_There were no more promises; there were no more the light that he once saw, and that was something that filled him with sadness._

_The Spirits looked at him, and then, they said, " **My sons, we shall now do something that should not be done by us**." The brothers all looked up at the Spirits, and they continued " **We shall reveal to you what the future holds.** "_

_The brothers all looked at the Spirits, and they spoke. " **We can see your descendant, Sharptooth. We see it being born among your brothers. Being raised and protected by them, and learning with them, and living with them as it grows, happy and innocent just like you once was.** "_

_" **We see your descendant growing and becoming a wise being, whose knowledge, kindness and pureness of heart shall shine light into the rest of his brothers and sisters. We see your descendent growing to be a leader. A leader that will guide the world into a new age of peace, that will bring your descendants and the descendants of your brothers into a new age, where they all shall once again see each other as equals, and as a family.** "_

_" **This is what the future does hold.** " The spirits finished, as they looked down at the brothers, all of which looked at them in amazement. " **This is a promise that we make for you. The promise of a brighter future that your descendant shall bring for the world, and for all of your descendants. This is what the fates and the stars say, and that is what is going to be. Stay in peace, children.** " Then, finally, the Spirits left that place, leaving the seven brothers alone…_

* * *

_"… and this is the whole story." Terry concluded, and Chomper looked up at him, while the crowd around them mumbled at this information, some of them not understanding the point of it, just like Chomper. The young sharptooth could only look up at the older one._

_"I… I don't understand…"_

_Terry looked at him, and he said, "The Spirits made a prophecy that day, a prophecy that said that one day, a descendant of Sharptooth would bring a new era of peace to the world. That it would bring a new world, where leaf eaters and sharpteeth will be able to live side by side, calling each other friend, and leaving together in peace and harmony."_

_The crowd around mumbled, and Chomper looked up at him. "B-but what does it has to do with me?"_

_There was a silence, and after a while, Littlefoot walked up to Chomper, and he said, "Chomper, we found you when you were still an egg. Me, Cera, Ducky, Spike and Petrie. A longneck, a threehorn, a swimmer, a spiketail and a flyer." Littlefoot explained to him that as he looked at the young sharptooth. "We saw you be born, we took care of you, protected you and became your friends."_

_"Years later you got to know Ruby." Said Swift, and this made Chomper look at him, and he continued, "Someone who took care of you and protected you, being a friend and a family to you while your parents are away from you." Swift said to him, as he concluded, "A fast runner."_

_"All of the same species from the other six brothers." Terry said, "All of them taking care and protecting a young sharptooth."_

_Chomper looked at all of them, and his eyes were slowly widening as it was starting ot sink in._

_Did they meant that..?_

"The prophecy speaks about a sharptooth raised by the descendants of the six brothers, protected by them and who will have them as its family." Terry finally concluded, and he said, looking at Chomper. "And we believe that  _you_  are this sharptooth."

"We believe that you are the sharptooth of the prophecy, the one who will, finally, bring peace between sharpteeth and leaf eaters, and teach them all to live together and be friends and family, like the Spirits said that it would happen."

The crowd mumbled among themselves, and Chomper could barely even believe it.

For years, he had dreamed that he could teach sharpteeth to be friends, and that this way, he could still be forever friends with the others. Now, they were telling him that his dream truly will become true, and that Chomper himself would be the sharptooth who would make that happen. That was something that was totally rocking Chomper's world, as nothing had ever rocked before. It was something so astounding and so crazy that Chomper was completely loss of words, and he could barely even form coherent thoughts as his body seemed to be so light that it almost felt as he could start floating at any moment.

He was suddenly brought back to reality by Swift's voice, whose said, "The problem is that, by all that is happening now, it seems that Carnage is sure of it too."

Chomper looked at him, and so did the rest of the crowd, who went silent as he spoke, "That is why Carnage is sending his Hollows after you, and that is the reason why he won't stop until he gets you."

"What? Why?"

"To kill you." Swift said, and Chomper gasped, as did some members of the crowd, including Chomper's friends, who had looks of horror in their faces, except for Cera, who already knew that information a while ago. She knew since Littlefoot had explained everything to her in that night, and she had, very much like them, being terrified with the idea that this crazy sharptooth wanted to kill Chomper.

Terry shot another glare at Swift, and Swift looked back at him with ferocity, and after a while, they broke their staring, and Terry continued. "Carnage made a lot of effort to bring forth followers to his cause." He said, making others look at him.

"The arguments he used were that sharpteeth should rule the world, and that sharpteeth and leaf eaters could never life together in harmony, and he needs it to continue this way if he wants to keep his arguments valid." Terry said, and he added, "Because his whole speech, all of his arguments, all of the philosophy he uses to bring forth followers relies on sharpteeth seeing leaf eaters as noting more than food."

"If leaf eaters and sharpteeth started to see each other as equals, and started to live side by side and call each other 'friend', then his arguments would all be turned invalid. He would be unable to bring forth more followers, he would lost the ones he already had, and his whole plans of domination would be compromised. He would be still back on zero."

He looked down at Chomper, who looked up at him as he spoke, "That is why you are a treat you his plans. That is why your very existence puts in risk all of his plans and all of his goals to be the ruler of all of the sharpteeth. And that is why he is attacking the Valley and sending his Hollows to this Valley. He is after you."

Chomper continued to look at him, as he concluded his line of thoughts. "Carnage wants to get you, to prevent the prophecy from fulfilling. To kill you before it can come true."

"Carnage wants nothing more than to rule over the world and he will allow nothing to stand on his way." Swift said, catching everyone's attention again, and they looked at him, as he said, "That is why he is not going to measure efforts to kill you, and he will kill anyone who tries to protect you from him."

There was a huge silent, as everyone around absorbed the information that was given to them. So, that little sharptooth was destined to be someone important? He was destined to make sharpteeth and leaf eaters all be friend with each other and create a new world? That was truly the kind of information that changed things, especially for Chomper himself. To know that he was destined to be so important, and that all of that was because of him… that was so…

"Lets give him to the Hollows!" The domehead cried out, pointing at Chomper. Many of the presents gasped, and Chomper took a step back in fear. Immediately, Swift took a step in front of Chomper, as if to shield him from that domehead, and he said.

"Say that again!"

"This Carnage wants him, right?" the domehead asked, looking around, "He is attacking our Valley because of him, right? Then we just give this little sharptooth to him and he will leave us alone!"

That was it. It was exactly what the Order had feared since day one. Dinosaurs that could be moved by the fear and compelled to give away that little sharptooth in exchange for their safety and for having their home and lives left alone. Many would think twice before sacrificing a kid, be it a sharptooth or not, but when they were taken by fear, many dinosaurs were not responsible for their own actions.

"This won't solve anything!" Swift said, snarling at him.

"How so? If he has him then he will be satisfied and will have no more reasons to attack the Great Valley!" The domehead said, trying to be reasonable. "So, if we simply let them have the little sharptooth when they come again, they will simply take him away and the rest of us will be back to our normal lives in the morning after!"

Chomper whimpered as he neared Littlefoot, clinging into his leg. Littlefoot looked down at the little sharptooth, who was scared, and had all reasons to be scared. Littlefoot looked up and Swift was nearly foaming from his mouth in anger as he looked at the domehead, seemingly ready to pounce at him and slice his throat for even suggesting something like that.

Terry was the one who took forward and who spoke. "Carnage is ambitions and he wants all that he can get. The Great Valley is a great piece of territory, not the mention that is a symbol for both leaf eaters and sharpteeth of all parts. Do you think he will simply give up this place? I highly doubt so." Terry said, making a very cold statement.

"He might even leave the Valley alone for a few weeks!" Swift said, nearly snarling due to the anger. "But he  ** _will_**  come back for the Great Valley! He will come with far more Hollows and with a legion of sharpteeth followers, and they will march over the Great Valley and they will kill anyone who stand in their way! And the ones who manage to survive the attack, will be imprisoned, kept, feed, and even forced to reproduce with the only purpose of serving as constant source of food! That is what you want for your Valley?"

The crowd gasped and they mumbled among themselves in horror as the sailback described the plans of this Carnage for the Great Valley, if he got Chomper or not. Even the domehead seemed to be unable to answer that, as he simply snorted at him and looked away.

There was a silence among them, as Terry finally spoke. "We won't let it happen!" Everyone looked at him as they went silence. "Carnage obviously heard about Chomper from the gossip that goes around the Mysterious Beyond, for he had soon moved his attention to the Great Valley, and he seemed to be quite desperate to go in here."

He looked at all of them, as he continued, "As soon as we heard that he had his attention turned to the Great Valley, and that Littlefoot told us all about Chomper, we knew what his intentions were, and he knew that we should come here, to be sure that he would not make anymore victims."

"Yes, we came here to protect Chomper, but this does not means that we will sacrifice innocent dinosaurs only because it is convenient for us!" He said, as he looked around, "In this same moment, I give you my word that we will protect the Valley and you, and that we won't allow Carnage to take any lives, from  ** _anyone_**  who lives in the Great Valley!"

As Terry finished his speech, all of the other dinosaurs looked at him. All of them surprised, many of them unsure of what to say or to think about this whole situation. They were scared, and they didn't knew what to think about the big sharptooth and the rest of the Order, but the sharptooth seemed to be serious as he was giving his word that he was going to protect them.

Sure, a few moments ago many of them were in favor of chasing him out of the Great Valley, but now, as they had calmed down, and they were able to think better and more rationally, they saw that it would not solve their problems. Now, they could see that this sharptooth and his students were able to protect them. They felt better, calmer, and much safer now.

Suddenly, a loud, screeching cry filled the air as they all looked around, before someone was finally able to find the source of the screaming and point it out as a small dot in the air, flying in direction to the Order.

Petrie was barely able to land right, reeling into the ground until he collided with Chomper, almost sending the young sharptooth to the ground, as he was able to catch Petrie and help him support.

The young flyer was panting heavily, and he was trying to speak something, but it was clear that he was out of breath and completely terrified with whatever it was to talk.

"Monsters!... Surrounded!... Got us by surprise!... Could not escape!... Everyone!…"

"Wow, wow, wow!" Littlefoot said, and he looked at Petrie. "Petrie, calm down and breathe!" He said, but the young flyer was too nervous to hear him. "We can't hear what you have to tell us unless you calm down!"

"H-H-Hollows!" Petrie finally spluttered, and he held onto Chomper's arms as someone who is holding another person by the shoulders, and he said words that made Chomper gasp as a new wave of despair fill his heart:

"They got her! They got Ruby!"

 

 

 


	17. Carnage's Demands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carnage seeks for other ways to lure Chomper right to his clutches, and the members of the Order see themselves with a very difficult decision to make.

The next minutes were filled with all the dinosaurs in there talking, some shocked, and some trying to make sense of all of that. However, it was a sure thing that none of them was more shocked or worried than Chomper himself. His mind still had trouble to get a grip into what Petrie had just said to him.

He could not believe. He refused to believe.

Still, it was the truth. That was the horrid conclusion that his mind could take, and no amount of time he spent trying to convince himself that it was not the truth would change it.

The Hollows had kidnapped Ruby.

It took a while to calm down the young flyer before he could properly talk and explain, and it was mostly due to Swift, who looked at him deep in the eyes with a fierce but calm expression, and said:

"Petrie. Take a deep breath and explain to us exactly what happened."

Petrie looked at him with wide eyes. While the sailback did not sounded angry, he did sounded as if he was not kidding. This was enough to make the young flyer nervous as he tried to find his voice, but he was able to find it, and he was able to, finally, start to explain.

* * *

_The dinosaurs were all following Ruby, who lead them with a serious expression and with the determination of a true caretaker, as she was marching in direction to the last place that she had seen Chomper. The dinosaurs around saw her serious expression, and they all, even the ones that were bigger than her (which were all of them) were pretty sure that it was not a good idea to stand on her way._

_Right by the side of her head, there was a small brown flier that struggle to keep pace with her as she was walking fast, with firm steps, in direction to her intended destination. Petrie had saw ruby with that expression in very few occasions, and he knew that things were serious._

_As they walked, they failed to notice the shadows lurking around them, at least, until one of them caught the sound of the hustling grass. The dinosaur looked at the grass, and then, the next thing that everyone heard was a fearful scream, as the dinosaur was tackled and pinned to the ground by a Hollow, which had been sneaking into the grass._

_The other dinosaurs cried out as they tried to disband, only to see themselves surrounded by a group of Hollows that had circled them while maintaining hidden._

_Even Ruby's stone facade was broken as she saw the soulless and cruel eyes of these creatures._

_They all expected the Hollows' to attack them, but instead, they only circled them, snarling and snapping their jaws as they circled the surrounded dinosaurs. While this, the dinosaurs were just wondering what these creatures were waiting to jump at them and to make them into pieces._

_They continued to circle them, and it was almost as if they were closing them together into a small ball. Maybe so it would be easier to kill all of them by attacking and shredding them into pieces. All of them had fearful expressions in their faces, including Ruby, and Petrie was hugging tightly on the feathers of Ruby's head, his eyes closed, as he was far too scared to open them._

_However, some who were in the mood for a fight or, at least, refusing to go down without one._

_We are talking about the onehorn, who immediately cried out and charged at the nearest Hollow._

_The others all were shocked as they saw it, and they watched as the bull charged in direction to one of these creatures, ready to stab it in the stomach with his sharp horn and make it disappear forever._

_However, once more the Hollows proved to be the kind of creature that you could not hope to be able to win into a regular, fair fight._

_As the onehorn charged, the Hollow immediately sidestepped, and the bull passed right by him. However, this was not enough to satisfy the Hollow, as it immediately grabbed him by the tail using both clawed hands. The poor dinosaurs barely had time to react or to make any move, as the big thing immediately raised him and spun him in the air. The poor dinosaur was held by his tail, and spun him in the air like a lasso, and soon after, the Hollow then forced him back into the ground._

_The dinosaur smacked into the ground hard, raising dust, and letting out a pained cry, which combined with the scared cry that the rest of the dinosaurs had let out. He was already trying to recover from the thing, as he coughed up blood. He was sure to say that he had fractured a few ribs with that impact._

_However, he didn't had any time to recover or to even try to get back on his feet, for immediately, he felt himself being forced to the ground as the Hollow held him by the neck and held him down. The onehorn even tried to fight him, but the Hollow, despite being smaller and clearly lighter, was showing that have a level of strength that was anything but natural, as he was able to hold the heavier and bigger dinosaur into the ground with the same easiness that it would hold down a hatchling._

_The other dinosaurs watched in horror as the big dinosaur was hold to the ground by that creature, and they were all expecting the Hollow to start to shred the offending dinosaur into pieces. However, the Hollows once more did nothing, as the one with the onehorn only held him down by the neck, and the others continued to circle them._

_"What are they waiting for?" The tubehead asked, as he continued to see the Hollows circling them. "Why don't they just attack us and eat us and end this at once!?" He asked._

_While many would think his thinking to be morbid, he was only saying what the others were all thinking: why the Hollows didn't just attacked them and ended this?_

_What were they waiting for?_

_The answer came from above, as a distorted and scary voice._

_" **Food who is eager to be eaten? How interesting…** "_

_The dinosaurs all looked up, in time to see one of these strange flyer Hollows hoovering above them, they all let out surprised exclamations as the thing's distorted voice now was letting out what seemed to be the laughter of a sharptooth. It hovered over them and it landed in between the Hollows. The dinosaurs all cornered._

_It laughed, and said, " **Don't worry, you are not going to die today.** " It was clear by its tune that it found their fear to be somewhat amusing._

_"W-what do you want?" Petrie asked, having gathered enough courage to open his eyes and to look at the creature that was in front of them._

_The Hollow chuckled, and he said, " **Well, that is an interesting question… There is a lot of things I want. I want the future of my kind secured. I want you leaf eaters to know you place. I want to create a valley for my sharptooth brothers and sisters. I want to get rid of the ones that betray our kind by being friends with the food. So on, so on…** "_

_He spoke it as if it was a perfectly causal conversation, and the others only looked scared at him, and finally, the Hollow spoke. " **What I want right now is that little pipsqueak that you call your friend. What was his name again? Nipper… Muncher…** "_

_"Chomper!?" Petrie asked, his eyes widening as it seemed that the Hollow was after his sharptooth friend, and so did Ruby, as she looked at him._

_" **Yes! That is right! That is his name, no? What an interesting name… quite dumb, if you ask me, well, I guess this is the result of being born among leaf eaters, they name you the first thing that comes into their mind. However, why his sharptooth parents would want to keep this name is beyond me.** " He spoke that, while the other dinosaurs continued to look at him, especially the two youngsters. " **Anyway, yes, that is right, I want this little sharptooth.** " He finished, and Ruby immediately said:_

_"NO!" She said as she rushed to him, and Petrie flew from her neck and watched her got to that Hollow who dared to threaten Chomper. No one was fast enough to stop her, with the exception of two other Hollows, who quickly rushed to her and grabbed her by the arms, raising her from the ground, and keeping her from reaching that Hollow._

_He looked at her, and he chuckled. " **How predictable.**_ "  _He said as he looked at her, " **I kind of like you, and I am looking forward for you helping me getting that little sharptooth.** "_

_"I would never help you get your claws on Chomper!" Ruby said, forgetting all of her fear in favor of her worry about Chomper. The Hollow chuckled._

_" **Oh, child.** " He said, " **I never said that you would want… Or that you had a choice.** "_

_As soon as he said these words, the other Hollows screeched, as a few more of the winged Hollows came from the sky, and they gathered into the backs of the other Hollows. Soon, they were melting into their backs, as they lost their regular shape, and adopted a new one, very different. Soon, all of the Hollows had a new feature that they didn't had before: they all now had great, leathery wings on their backs._

_Soon, they were flapping them, soon they were raising from the ground, and they dove in direction to the other dinosaurs. However, instead of attacking or hurting them, they simply grabbed them and started to raise them, carrying them while they flew._

_They all let out screeches of fear and tried to move, as they were raise from the ground. They struggled to try to get free from their grip, but the Hollows proved to have a much stronger grip. Still, they all were trying to get free, and failing at doing so._

_One by one, all of the dinosaurs of that small group were raised from the ground and taken by the Hollows into the air. Including Ruby, who was now being held by just one Hollow, who used one arm to hold her body and arms, and the other one to hold her beak, keeping it close and muffling all of her speech, as it was now taking her along with the others._

_"Ruby!" Petrie cried out in fear as he saw Ruby being taken by the Hollows, along with all of the others._

_Before the young flyer could actually do something about it, he was suddenly tackled and pinned to the ground by something bigger than him. The Hollow smirked as it looked down at him with these cruel eyes. Petrie could do nothing more than to look up at that creature in pure terror, completely immobilized by his fear._

_The Hollow chuckled, " **Don't be scared, little one, I'm not going to kill you**." He said as he looked down at Petrie, who could only look back at him. " **After all, I need you to go back to them, back to little Chomper, and give him a message…** " He said, with a grin that was able to make the bones of a dinosaur freeze with fear…_

* * *

"H-he told me to come back and give Chomper his message!" Petrie finally finished his story, making all the other dinosaurs look at him. He looked at Chomper as he spoke what the message said.

"He is keeping ruby and others into a cave in the Mysterious Beyond! In a bunch of rocks that look like heads of sharpteeth! Chomper must go there alone until brightfall of tomorrow and they will be released unharmed! If the members of the Order or other dinosaurs are seen anywhere near the entrance, or if Chomper does not appear, he kills all of them!"

A collective gasp came from the crowd, but none of them carried more horror than the one that came from Chomper himself. His own face the image of ashen horror, as now he knew that Ruby, one of his friends, and one of the dearest ones, was in the power of that horrible, cruel sharptooth known as Carnage, and that he was now threatening to kill her. This was more than enough to make the worst kind of terror to creep into his heart and cling into it like a terrible snake constricting its poor victim.

"Do you see!?" The domehead cried out, pointing at Chomper. "See what that sharptooth has brought to us? Let's just give him to Carnage and end this!"

"Say that again, if you dare!" Swift snarled loudly, baring his teeth as he had his claws emitting a soft glow and heat from the power of his fire magic. The domehead, however, seemed not to get so intimidated.

"Some of us were taken prisoner by that sharptooth!" He said, pointing at the Order, almost accusingly, and he turned to the crowd, to say. "He only wants the young sharptooth! What we actually have to lose? He is only a sharptooth, and we can only give the little one to him and he will leave us alone!"

"He will come back!" Swift nearly roared at him, "We already told you that!"

"So we deal with him when he comes!" The domehead said to him, "While this, we give the little one to him so we can at least gain some time, and so none more of us has to die because of him!"

Everyone looked at him as he talked, "After all, like you said, Carnage is attacking the Great Valley only because of him! Because of this stupid 'prophecy' and this whole talk about him becoming some kind of leader in the future!" Now even Chomper was looking at him as he continued.

"If it wasn't for him, Carnage would probably not even be interested into the Great Valley and sending his monsters to attack us! It is all because of him! Because of him being in here! Carnage only wants him, that is why he is attacking us, and that is why he took some of us only to get him! One of them was one of his own friends! The fast runner girl! The little sharptooth is the one responsible for all of this! He is the responsible for them to be in danger! And if they die, it is all going to be because of him! If he really had any consideration for them, or for us, by that matter, he would just do what Carnage wants and turn himself to him!"

Swift snarled, and some members of the Order had too expressions of murder anger as they looked at the domehead, especially Littlefoot. The longneck had already endured way too of much the things that the domehead had to say about Chomper, and none of them was ever anything good. Littlefoot now was on his last nerve with him, and he was too, ready to go into a fight with him if the domehead actually wanted to induce the others to make any harm to Chomper, or if he even said a single more word of these to the young sharptooth.

"Enough of that!" Grandpa Longneck finally said. He had remained silent for way too long, and he was done listening to the absurd things that the domehead was saying, and he was not going to take it in silence anymore

"Do you are really willing to sacrifice an innocent children?" He asked in a tone of almost indignation at the crowd. "Do you really think that sacrificing a poor young will solve any of our problems!?"

There was a deep silence after the old longneck said that, all eye on him. "I know that you are all scared, I am scared myself!" He looked at all of them as he said that, and then, he continued, "But sacrificing another life out of fear has never brought anything good to anyone! And neither will it now!"

There was another moment of silence, as everyone take in the words of the longneck, and soon, he started talking again. "We cannot let our fear and anger divide us and guide our actions now. If we give in to these feelings, then we will begin to lose the same kind of thinking that for a long time has maintained us all united here in Great Valley. The thinking that we are all a great herd, that cares and fends for all of its members."

There was a silence and some mumbling from the crowd, as many of them, who were actually on the domehead's side a few moments ago, now were looking on the ground in shame.

Terry was actually able to chuckle a little. The elder longneck knew very well how to talk and how to make his point for everyone. Also, Terry was really glad that he was not mistaken in relation to the longneck's character. The longneck was really not the kind that would sacrifice an innocent life in order to make anything. Something like that, for someone like him, was not even close to be considered as an option, not while he could say something about it, at least.

After that, it seemed that the crowd had calmed down enough, even the domeheads now seemed to have nothing more to say, and so, it was the chance that Terry wanted so he could talk. "He is completely right." The big sharptooth spoke in his potent voice, making everyone look at him. "Now, we must think in a way of saving these poor lads who had been taken."

The crowd now agreed with him, and that was enough, after around thirty minutes of discussion, it was decided that staying up all night was not going to make anyone any good. So, they all agreed to go and try to sleep some, and to try to come up with a solution first thing in the morning.

With that said, each dinosaur now was walking back to its sleeping area. Littlefoot's friends, who were still worried about Ruby, were the last ones to leave, and only because their longneck friend convinced them to go and to rest so they would be in all conditions to help Ruby by thinking at something.

"Thank you very much for that, Grandpa." Littlefoot said to his grandfather once most of the dinosaurs had already gone. Grandpa looked down at him and smiled.

"I just said what needed to be said, grandson." He spoke, and in truth, he felt like he needed to say these words, especially after the things that he had spoken to Littlefoot after the first time the Hollows said they wanted something from the Great Valley. The idea that he had, even unknowingly, even considered giving poor Chomper to that cruel sharptooth named Carnage was enough to make him burn with shame.

No amount of fear or worry justified sacrificing an innocent life.

"Well, it is late now. I guess we should all go to sleep." Grandpa said, wanted to put his head away from that subject. "Are you coming, Littlefoot?" He asked as he looked down at the smaller longneck.

Littlefoot looked up at him, and he turned his head back at Chomper, who was now with Nettle and Swift by his sides. The blue sharptooth has his head hung to the ground, looking miserable, while Nettle seemed to be doing her best to try to make him feel better. Still, she was having little success, by the way things were looking from there.

Littlefoot knew that Chomper was passing through a lot. After all, Ruby was one of his few and best friends, and she was, with no doubt, among the ones who cared the most about Chomper's well-being.

"Actually…" Littlefoot said, turning his head back to his grandfather, and saying, "I think that I'll spend the night with Chomper."

Grandpa looked at him and at poor Chomper, and he gave a nod as he turned his head back to his grandson. There was no need for explanation or to any more words. He knew that Chomper was passing through a difficult moment, and Littlefoot wanted to be by his side to comfort him and give him support. After all, Littlefoot was a good dinosaur who wanted nothing more than to help others, especially when it came to his friends.

So, they bid each other goodnight, and Grandpa and Grandma went back to their sleeping area, while Littlefoot stayed behind, watching they leave. As he watched, Terry walked near to him, and he asked. "Feeling like staying along, little one?"

Littlefoot didn't even needed to answer, for Terry already knew that he was there for Chomper, and the silent of the longneck was enough for him. He looked over, seeing Nettle patting the back of the poor blue sharptooth, and the poor little thing barely seemed to be able to recognize her presence, as he continued to be sat into that rock and he had his head hung low.

Terry sighed, feeling sympathy for that poor young soul. Carnage was the kind of enemy that never hesitated into using one's loving ones against him, this kind of approach was one of the favorites of that bastard. It made Terry's blood boil, especially for the effect that it had into poor innocent souls, like Chomper's…

He sighed, and said to the young longneck, "You and Swift will both be with him during this night. Keep an eye own any possible danger that might come."

Littlefoot knew that he was talking not only about the Hollows that could come, but also of members of the Great Valley, like these domeheads, that could want to come and catch Chomper to give him to Carnage, trying to save the Great Valley. Now that the truth was out they had more things to worry about, and they all knew that pretty well.

"Also…" He said, casting one more look at the small sharptooth, who was now shaking slightly as Nettle hugged him, he seemed to be chocking back sobs. "Make sure that Chomper is fine…" He said, and Littlefoot looked up at him, getting completely what he was saying. He nodded, and Terry took that as enough, and he turned around to walk back to his students and to that poor little sharptooth…

* * *

Littlefoot and Swift were walking in direction to the Secret Caves. Chomper was laying on his chest on Littlefoot's back as the longneck walked. The poor little thing looked utterly miserable, and he hadn't spoken a single word during the time they had been walking, though there were still some fresh tear tracks in his face.

The silence was heavy, as neither Swift nor Littlefoot though that they could say anything that would make Chomper feel better or make things even worse. So they only remained into that respectable silence, letting Chomper in peace as they walked in direction to the caves where they would be spending their night.

They arrived in it after a little more walking, and Swift has to lower his head to be able to pass the entrance of the cave. Once inside, Littlefoot gently laid Chomper into the ground, where the small sharptooth curled himself into a ball as small as possible, and he continued in silence.

Littlefoot and Swift shared a look, and they both sighed. Just as that, Chomper finally spoke:

"Is this my fault?"

The two dinosaurs raised their heads to look at the small sharptooth, who was still curl into a ball and not looking at him. However, it was clear that what he was asking g was something that he wanted to see answered.

"What is happening to the Great Valley… The ones who are getting hurt… Ruby being taken away…" Chomper spoke, his voice slurred, and his own voice almost seemed disembodied to his ears. "Are the domeheads right? Is this all… really my fault?"

Swift snarled as he looked away, and Littlefoot felt terribly sorry for poor Chomper. He knew how much Chomper cared about others, and that thinking that he was causing troubles to the ones around him was something that made the young blue sharptooth feel horrible. Especially because Chomper was very sensible when it came into the opinions of others, after all, he already tried to leave the Great Valley and teach strange sharpteeth into being friends when he faced the rejection of some members of the Valley…

Littlefoot walked to him, and he said, "Chomper this is not truth, and you know that. These domeheads just don't know what they are talking about."

Chomper did not answered. He only continued curled into a ball, seeming to be sulking with himself, and it was easy for Littlefoot to notice that his words seemed not to have the effect that he wanted them to have. Littlefoot approached him, and he spoke, "Chomper, look at me."

The young sharptooth did not did it, and he only continued sulking as he was curled. In other circumstances, Littlefoot would respect Chomper's wish, and leave him be. However, with the current situation, and with all that was happening, and after all that he had gone through and how much he had matured during his time with the Order, Littlefoot knew that he was far above simply accepting Chomper to ignore him and continue to be unhappy.

Littlefoot approached him more, and he said, into a very firm, but gentle, tone to the young dragon. "Chomper, I'm not kidding, look at me."

The tone was very much like the one that the adults used when they truly wanted their young ones to take them seriously, and it sounded a lot like the one that Ruby herself used several times. Maybe that was why Chomper decided to hear and to obey, raising his head and looking at Littlefoot. He saw the gentle but serious expression of the longneck, coupled with a tenderness that told Chomper that the longneck was truly worried with him.

"Nothing of what is happening now is your fault." Littlefoot said, trying to be as gentle and kind as possible. "The Hollows, the attacks, what is happening in here, and all that will happen in the following days, none of that is your fault. It is Carnage's fault." Littlefoot said incisively. "Carnage is a horrible dinosaur, who is willing to hurt others to get what he wants and cares for no one other than himself. He was the one who created the Hollows and sent them here. He is the one who is attacking the Great Valley and spreading hate over the sharpteeth as if it is a wisdom. He is the one that is aiming to hurt others in order to have all that he wants, and he is the one who took Ruby and the others away."

He continued to look at Chomper as he said each one of these words. "Carnage is the one who is truly to blame. You did nothing wrong, Chomper. You are special; you are kind, gentle, and a wonderful person. You have always been, and that is why we of the Order are so sure that you are the sharptooth of the prophecy."

There was a moment of silence, and Chomper said, "And so does Carnage..." His tone was sad, and he continued, "That is why he is coming at the Great Valley, and this is why he took Ruby… They all are in danger because of me…"

"Chomper…"

"If it wasn't for me, then…"

"Chomper, stop!" Littlefoot said sharply, and this made Chomper stop and look at him. The longneck had to take a moment to calm down, and he said, "Chomper, none of this is your fault." He said, "I know that you are worried, but it will be okay."

Chomper looked at him, and Littlefoot continued. "We will find a way to solve this, and we will save Ruby and everyone else…"

"And we will make Carnage pay for all that he has done." Swift added. "For a long time he has deserved what is coming to him, and he will get it as soon as we get our claws on him. He won't escape this time."

As Swift spoke, his eyes emitted a white glow much like the fire he created, and he seemed to be really serious about it, and the two dinosaurs looked at him, before Littlefoot turned his head back at the young sharptooth, and continued to say:

"We will bring ruby back home, safe and sound, along with everyone else. It will all be all right. I promise."

Chomper looked at him for a while more, and he lowered his head again, once more curling into a ball, and he seemed to be ready to go back to sulking.

Littlefoot looked at him, and he looked back at Swift, who sighed, and shook his head slightly. The message was obvious, and Littlefoot knew that this message was right, and he knew that nothing else he could say was going to make Chomper feel better, he did the best he could, but he could only go to a certain point.

The longneck sighed in defeat, and now he did the only thing that he could do, he curled around Chomper, cuddling with him as he was now going to comfort him through the night. Swift knew it, and he said: "I'll assume the first watching shift. I'll wake you later for you to keep watch."

He turned and was now looking at the entrance of the cave, ready for anything that could come during the night. Littlefoot knew that he could trust him to keep watch over the whole night, and so, he could only curl more around Chomper, letting the sharptooth know that he was in there for him. It was all that he could do now, and even though he knew that it was possible not going to be enough, he would do it anyway.

Chomper could feel the warm of the longneck who was around him. It made him remember of the times that he was a young sharptooth, with his mommy and daddy curling around him and comforting him, keeping him warm during the night. Under normal circumstances, it would be enough to make all of his worries go away and make him feel better, not mattering how bad things were. But now, with one of his best friends missing, and with the danger of she dying, and the possibility of the whole Great Valley being attacked, and all of that on his head, it was just too much for the young sharptooth.

As he curled tighter into a ball into the embrace of the longneck, and tried in vain to get to sleep, to at least have some peace, he could not avoid a single tear to run down his cheeks…

* * *

The night passed in a haste for the ones that could sleep. Still, the night was troubled with the worry for the ones that had been taken, and it was particularly hard for the ones that were personally involved with the ones who were taken, like Littlefoot, his friends, and especially little Chomper.

Their worry with Ruby's fate was preventing them from having a peaceful night, and it did until the morning.

As soon as the Bright Circle was up, the Order made a reunion, and they started to discuss possible ways of rescuing Ruby and the others.

"Maybe we can sneak around the place and take everyone out without him seeing!" Uri said to the others. "I could very well use my powers to create a distraction, we can take away his attention from the place and cause his Hollows to leave the place, and we can sneak everyone out before they come back."

"No, Carnage is too smart to fall for this." Terry said, quickly dismissing the plan. "HE probably already expect us to try something like that, and he would be ready if we did. He probably has them all under heavy surveillance and he is hiding them into a complex set of caves and tunnels, he likes those. Also, he probably has the Hollows watching the place day and night, he would spot us from a mile away, and by the time we came even close he would have already killed all of the hostages."

"Oh…" Uri said, lowering his head.

"We need to find a way to get to him before he can do anything to them." Swift said, "Maybe Littlefoot and I can break into the place and attack with full force. We destroy any Hollows we find, we kill Carnage, and we take everyone back home and go back to our business."

It was a good plan, in the theory, and it was also the kind of approach that Swift himself surely appreciated. However this was soon dismissed by Terry. "The Hollows will be watching, and they will let Carnage know as soon as anyone approach the place. Carnage probably has dozens of them spread into the place like sentries, in the moment the first gives an alarm, there will be hundreds of them coming to us all at once. Also, we don't know how deep and complex the caves are, it could take a lot of time to find and reach the hostages at the same time that we try to fight the Hollows all at once, and by the time we finally manage to find the way, Carnage could have already killed them and escaped. It is not a good plan."

Swift sighed, well, it was worth a shot. They were still on zero, and they were surely running out of time.

They only had until the bright fall of that same day to come up with a plan that would allow them to save all of the ones that Carnage had taken hostages without putting anyone else into unnecessary danger. Each second that they lost trying to come up with a reasonable plan was one less second that they lost to save them, and it was one more stake at the chance of these poor lads end up dying, or worse…

It was hard for all of them, for Terry, who wanted to make sure that no one else ended up as a victim of Carnage. Hard at Uri, that wanted to save everyone and make sure that no poor victim was taken by the likes of Carnage. Swift wanted to catch Carnage and make him pay for all the poor lives that he took and ruined in all the time that he promoted the hate. Hard for Littlefoot, since one of the ones who was taken was a close friend of him, and if he failed to save her and bring her back home safely, he would never be able to forgive himself or look Chomper in the eye ever again.

They spent a while pondering, and they had even forgotten to eat as they tried to come up with a plan that could be good. But no plan was good enough. Anything that they tried to come up with would require them to know exactly how complex were the caves and tunnels where Carnage was hiding. Finally, all of the plans they tried to come up with were blow away into the wind as soon as they brought the subject of the Hollows seeing them from far and sounding the alarm for Carnage and all of the other Hollows in the place. This all seemed to point to them that it was very hard, if not impossible for them to go in there without calling attention.

This was by itself enough to make Littlefoot risk falling into despair. It seemed that no plan they could come up with was good enough, and that all that they could do was to sit there helplessly and wait for the moment when they knew that the hostages would all be killed. This was so frustrating. Having all of these powers and being unable to use them to save the ones that he cared the most with, and after all the promises that he had made of using his magic to protect all of them.

It was just so frustrating to Littlefoot that all of their abilities were rendered near useless, only because the Hollows as the sentries into the place would see them coming from far…

See them coming…

Littlefoot's eyes widened as suddenly an idea came into his mind.

"I know!" He nearly blurted out, making the ones around him almost jump back and look at him, as the longneck looked back at them, and quickly shared his plan with them.

There was a silence following his words, in which the others present pondered the plan that the longneck had offered to them.

"It is risky." Terry said, munching over the idea.

"It could actually work." Swift said.

"It sounds like a good plan to me!" Uri said, starting to get really excited as he thought about this plan.

"Well, for it to work it would have to be Swift and Littlefoot." Terry said, "After all, they are the ones of us that are the most skilled into furtive approach."

"Fine by me." Swift said, it was not the kind of approach that he favored, but if it meant that he would be able to get close enough of Carnage to kill him, then they could definitely count on him.

"Littlefoot?" Terry asked as he looked at the smaller dinosaur, but a single look into his eyes was enough to give him all the answer that he needed. Terry was actually able to chuckle a little, and he was feeling really proud of the young longneck, both for he was able to think of that plan, and because he was now showing all the courage that was needed for the plan that he had himself devised.

"Then I guess it will be this plan." Terry said, and the others around him nodded.

"Just one problem…" Uri said, getting everyone's attention. "I don't really think that the Great Valley has any of  _that_  in here."

"He has a point." Swift said, "That thing is really hard to find."

"Well, I know a dinosaur who can always find it…" Littlefoot said with a smile, and the others around knew who he was talking about. The longneck seemed like he really had already thought of pretty much everything, and that made Terry even prouder.

"Think he will be able to answer?" Uri asked.

"You think he will be able to find enough of it in time?" Swift asked.

"Well, there is only one way to find out, there isn't?" Terry said, and he touched the silvery belt on his waist with a clawed hand, and it started to glow and to vibrate slightly…

* * *

While the others were devising a plan to be able to solve the situation with ruby and the hostages, Nettle was not taking part of it.

She had been tasked with keeping an close eye on Chomper while the others were talking, to make sure that the young sharptooth would be okay, and that no Hollow or desperate resident of the Great Valley would come to him to try anything crazy. Also, she had been chosen because she was the one that was better in dealing with other dinosaurs, and maybe she would be able to comfort Chomper, maybe even a little bit.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out to play?" Nettle asked again, "Maybe we can find the others and we can play swimmer-and-splasher again."

"I'm not in the mood." Chomper said as he continued to sit on that rock and sulk with himself, only looking down and looking very sad. He was not in the mood for any kind of games, or going out to play, or anything like that. He was far too worried and sad with the whole situation of Ruby being in danger to be actually able to think of anything else, even though everyone around him keep telling that it was going to be okay, and that she was going to come back home safe and sound, Chomper was just unable to calm down and relax.

He could not relax after all that he heard about Carnage, after all that the Order had spoken about him and about how cruel and evil he was. It was just too hard for Chomper to think positively into a situation like that…

"Chomper, you should at least try to eat something." Nettle said, sounding very soft-spoken, in contrast with her natural self, as she was very worried with the sadness of that poor young one. "Littlefoot said that you haven't eaten anything since you woke up. It is not good to stay without eating like that! You need to eat something!"

She sounded desperate as she spoke that, and she was right. Staying without food was one of the worst things for the health of a young dinosaur, especially to a sharptooth so young like Chomper. However, it was absolutely no use, as the worry, the sadness, and the dread that Chomper was feeling made him sick in his stomach and robbed him completely of his appetite.

This was one of the few times in his life that Chomper was completely and absolutely incapable of thinking of food in any level. He was only able to keep his head lowered, sulking over his situation and about just how helpless he felt.

No. Worse than helpless. He felt responsible.

Ever since last night, the words of the domehead were still ranging into his head ever since last night, and they even had continued during his sleep stories.

The domehead really seemed to be sure of what he was talking when he said that Chomper was the one who was bringing it all to them. That Carnage was only doing that to the Great Valley and the ones who lived in there because of him. That if Chomper was not there or, if he were gave to Carnage then everything would be fine and normal.

The problem was, the more Chomper thought about it, the more he seemed to consider that maybe the domehead was right, in despite of everything that Littlefoot had told him in the previous night.

Carnage was mean, but he was doing that because of  _him_. He had sent his Hollows into the Valley and was willing to kill everyone to get  _him_. He had taken Ruby and the others as prisoners and was now threatening to kill them in order to cause Chomper to go straight to him.

All the things that Carnage had done up until now to the Valley and everyone around him, he had done with the sole purpose of reaching or hitting  _him_ , and only him.

That was the truth, and the more Chomper thought about it, the more he felt horrible about all of that.

It made him consider if the idea of the domehead was actually right about the idea of giving Chomper to him. If that was going to make him move back, and leave everyone that was in there alone, even if it was only for the time being, wouldn't it be worth it?

To make sure that the ones that were taken by him and by his Hollows would be able to come back home, and to live one more day in safety, wouldn't it be worth the sacrifice?

* * *

"He is taking way too long." Said Swift as he paced back and forth, his arms crossed over his chest. "It is only a matter of time before brightfall!"

"Don't worry, Swift, he has never let us down before." Terry said, and he and the others continued to wait. As they did, some dinosaurs looked at them, many of them wondering just what they were waiting for now.

"Excuse me?" Someone said, making the Order look at them, "Weren't you suppose to be coming up with a way to save everyone?"

"Oh, we already have!" Uri said.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"You will see!" Uri said, and he turned back at looking at the sky, as if he was waiting for something.

As the Order continued in there, waiting, Littlefoot's friends approached, and they shared looks among themselves.

Just what were they doing?

"Littlefoot?" Ducky said, as she and Spike both approached the longneck, who turned to look at them. "You really have a plan to save Ruby?"

"Yeah, we do." Was his short answer, as he continued to look at the sky.

"Then why don't you put it in action already?" Cera said, walking forward, and looking at her longneck friend. As far as she knew, Littlefoot was not the kind that sat back and did nothing when there was something to be done, and he was surely not the kind that would not go for action if he had a plan ready.

"Because we need help for the plan to work." He said, looking at his friends. "We need to be able to approach the place without being noticed, and that would be impossible because of the Hollows that Carnage surely will have watching the place. We need to get in and reach the others without him or the Hollows noticing us, and for that, we are going to need something…" Littlefoot concluded, and looked back at the sky. "We are waiting for a friend to bring it to us, but he is taking long."

"Yeah, that thing is hard to find." Uri chimed in, as he too continued to look at the sky, seemingly searching for the same thing that the longneck was.

His friends all shared a look among themselves.

"What thing?"

"Your friend a flyer?"

"There he is!" Uri exclaimed, sounding very excited, as the ones nearby turned their heads to look at what the sky, seemingly to try to see what he was pointing at. Many of them could see a form moving into the sky, but it didn't seemed like a flyer. It seemed more like a strange forming sky puffy…

"Yes!"

"About time."

The ones continued to look at that, and they noticed that it seemed to be getting closer to them. As it approached, they started to see that it was not a sky puffy.

What was approaching actually seemed like a spinning cloud of dust, and it was approaching fast, making a loud sound like a strong wind in the desert. As it approached even more, some of the dinosaurs in there could start to make out a silhouette inside that cloud of dust. It was something big.

As the cloud approached to the ground, it started to subdue, with the swirling sand around it slowly starting to fade in the air or fall to the ground, and that was when the ones in there could get a good look at what had just arrived.

Many of them gasped and took a step back.

Inside the swirling cloud, there was a fast biter. Bigger than any other fast biter that any of them had ever seen before. He was almost as big as Terry, and he had wood-colored scales, with black strips on his back and on his arms and legs and running down his tail. His claws were white colored, and his eyes were amber-colored. On his left hand, on one of his claws, there was an object that nowadays would be recognized as a ring, and that had the very same symbol of the Order of Leaf and Claw it in.

The enormous fast biter sighed as he looked at the others, and said, "Hey, guys." Sounding very friendly to all the ones in there, including the ones that were obviously distressed by his presence.

"Took you long enough." Swift said, looking up at the big dinosaur, who looked down at him.

"Hi to you too."

Littlefoot looked back at everyone, who were all looking with wide eyes and mouths at the newly arrived, and after a while he said, "Huh… guys?" The others continued to look at the sharptooth, and Littlefoot cleared his throat, and he said, "Guys, I want you to meet Ripto. He is another member of the Order of Leaf and Claw."

The big fast biter, Ripto, smiled at them, and said, "Nice to meet you all."

There was a silence, before a shivering Petrie said: "Y-y-you… You s-so b-b-big…"

Ripto looked at him, "Oh yeah, you see, I'm a giant fast biter. I'm much like the fast biters you already saw, but I'm much bigger… or they are much smaller…"

"We can leave it for later." Swift said, catching the attention of the ones in there.

"Swift is right, the time is passing and it doesn't stop for anyone. We can have proper introductions and talks later, but now, we need to focus on our mission." Terry said, and the ones in there actually agreed with him. "So, Ripto, did you brought it?"

"When have I ever let you down, old man?" He asked, and showed off his hand, revealing that he had something green in it. At a closer look, they could see that it was a big leaf that had been folded over itself to form some kind of recipient, which many of nowadays people would recognize as a bag or something similar.

"I just couldn't find much of it, you guys know how hard is to get some of it, don't you?"

He lowered his hand, and the smaller dinosaurs could take a look. Swift reached and unfolded only slightly the bag, revealing it to be actually made of around four big leaves folded over each other, and he took a look inside. "It really is not much… but it will be enough for our plan to work."

As he spoke, Petrie took flight and hoovered over the bag of leaves, and looked what was inside.

"Sand?" The flyer asked, and the others all looked at him.

"Yes, sand." Swift said, reaching with his clawed hand inside the bag and pulling out a bit of the sand, before letting it slide in between his claws back to the bag. The sand was very clear, nearly white, actually, and it was also very thin.

"Sand is what you need to rescue Ruby and the others?" Cera asked, in a clearly skeptical tone, as she looked at the thing that was falling back into the bag of leaves, and Swift looked back at her. "This is not an ordinary sand." He said simply, and he seemed about to say something, when all of sudden:

"Help! Guys! Help!"

Everyone turned around to see Nettle running in their direction, she was panting and she seemed in distraught.

"Nettle?" Littlefoot said, as she ran to them, and she stood there, panting as she tried to form coherent words to them.

"Nettle! What happened, girl?" Uri asked, she tried to speak, but it came out as spaced words and also some incoherent babbling.

"Nettle! Calm down." Terry said.

"What are you doing here? Where is Chomper?" Swift asked, and this seemed to be what it took for Nettle to be able to finally recover and speak properly once more.

"Chomper is gone!"

"What!?" The ones in there exclaimed as one, as they all looked at her.

"I-I was with him, and he said that he had gotten hungry. He asked me to go fatch him some stinky buzzers for his lunch. So I…"

"You just left him alone?" Swift said in a reprehensive tone, which caused Nettle to flinch and recoil slightly.

"H-he hadn't eaten, so I thought it was nice for him to have a meal." She said, trying to justify herself. "I went to get the buzzers, but when I came back the cave was empty!"

This was enough to make all the ones around to worry.

"Where is he?" Uri said, "Has someone came and took him?"

"I-I don't know…" Nettle said, and she was on the verge of tears. "I-I looked around, but it didn't seemed to have any footprints in there…"

"Someone went there while you were out and took him." Swift said in a near snarl, his eyes glowing in white. It seemed like the obvious thing that might have happened, but Littlefoot thought differently.

"Maybe not…" He said, causing others to look at him, as he just remembered all of the things that he heard Chomper say in the previous night…

* * *

He was doing the right thing. That was the only thing that Chomper was sure of in the moment.

He had used the excuse of wanting food to make Nettle leave, so he would be able to walk away.

Luckily, he already knew fairly well the tunnels into the Secret Caves, and he was able to walk around them without getting lost. It was not hard to find an opening that would lead him to the outside, to the Mysterious Beyond.

Once outside, Chomper started to walk, and only after a while he realized that he didn't knew where he should exactly go.

A screech called his attention, and he looked up, to see one of the Winged Creeps circling in the sky above him. The small sharptooth gasped, and soon, the Hollow glided to the ground and landed right in front of Chomper.

The young one closed his eyes and waited for an attack of that thing, but it didn't came. After a few, Chomper opened his eyes, and looked at the thing, which only looked back at him with an empty expression.

Chomper stepped closer, and after a few moments, he said, "I-I have accepted Carnage's offer." He spoke that as bravely as he could, "I'll let him get me if he lets Ruby and the others return safely to the Great Valley."

The thing continued to look at him, and for a moment, Chomper wondered if the thing had understood him.

He decided to try it again in Sharptooth.

" _I'll go with you to Carnage._ " The sharptooth said with growls and clicks, after so long living with the leaf eaters, his own language was starting to sound strange to his own ears. " _But he has to keep his word and free everyone and leave the Great Valley alone!_ "

The creature looked at him for a few more moments, and Chomper wondered if the thing had actually understood anything that he had said.

Then, the creature let out a screech sound that made Chomper jump back, and it took flight. It started to move ahead, and it stopped a moment later looking back as it hovered in the same place.

It was clear to Chomper. It wanted him to follow. It was going to lead him to Carnage.

Chomper looked back one more time. He thought about Littlefoot and the Order, and he could not shake away the feeling that, by doing that, by giving himself to Carnage like that, he was somehow betraying them for all of the effort they had made to ensure that he would be safe.

He knew that Carnage would surely want to kill him once he saw him. However, Chomper knew that if something happened to Ruby he would never forgive himself.

Chomper was doing that for his friend, and that was far more important than his own safety. That was something that was clear into Chomper's mind, and the idea that he was doing it to ensure that ruby would come back home safe and sound was what made the young sharptooth take his decision.

Looking back at the hovering Hollow, Chomper started to follow, while the thing flew ahead, guiding the sharptooth in direction to his fate. Whatever it would be…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	18. In the Beast's Lair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chomper arrives in Carnage's den...

When Chomper had left the Great Valley, the Bright Circle was around 3/5 done with his travel across the sky. Since he found the Hollow, and started to follow it, the time had passed even more.

Chomper had a little trouble to follow the Hollow, as it was all the time waiting for him, but it was taking him into quite a troubled path. Chomper saw himself constantly having to move up and down hills, pass by enclosed openings into canyons, and he even had to cross some dangerous obstacles, like deep cliffs and pools of sinking sand.

Still, the Hollow seemed to be really interested into taking Chomper into the direction that he needed to go. It showed him the right path, demonstrated to him ways to cross or to avoid the dangers that were on the way, at some points the Hollow even picked him up and carried him over the obstacles before gently landing him into the ground.

Chomper was even finding it strange that the Hollow as actually being nice and helpful to him, since after all that the Order had said, it was to be expected that the thing would try to kill Chomper as soon as it saw him. However, he knew that he could worry about that later, now, what mattered was to arrive into the place he was supposed to go before the brightfall. What considering the position of the Bright Circle in the sky and the color that the sky itself was slowly acquiring, would not take very long…

* * *

Ruby continued sitting down in the place she had been left.

She had been brought into the tunnels inside that cave, and she was lost in there for Great-Circle-knows-how-long, and she, along with the others, were forced to stay into a circle, with four great Ground Shaker Hollows watching over their very move, and they seemed to be itching for the chance of attacking them.

“Oh, why don’t they attack at once and end our misery?” One of them whispered to the others, and he added, “This tension is far worse than actually being eaten!”

“Oh, quit complaining. They will probably kill us soon anyway.” Another said, “And all because of that little sharptooth.”

Ruby heard that, and she immediately turned to him, giving him a glare that made him shut up almost immediately. She then turned back to sulk into the place she was sitting, and she returned to her own thoughts. She wasn’t sure of where she was or of what was going to happen. However, she knew that, deep inside, she hoped that Chomper was safe.

“Looks like you all have already accepted your fate.” Came the strong voice, and all the eyes turned to look, and they saw that it belonged to a horned sharptooth. He wasn’t a Hollow, and that much was clear. He was just a regular sharptooth, but the way that he smiled at them gave them creeps.

“Well, it is good when food realizes that there is no point in resisting or fighting, it makes things so much easier.” He spoke, talking in perfectly fluent leaf-eater idiom, “Still, I kind of like when they still have a little bit of fight left in them. Makes things more interesting.”

They looked at him, and many of them cornered in fear of him. He chuckled, and he walked in their direction, and as he did, the Hollows opened space for him to walk in, and they almost seemed to respect him somehow. Ruby was the one who first noticed it, and she looked at him, and said, “You!”

The sharptooth looked down at her, and the other dinosaurs also stopped and looked at the fast runner. “You are the one who is making the Hollows and sending them to the Great Valley after making them!”

The sharptooth looked down at her, and he chuckled, as he lowered his head until he was on her eye-level, and he spoke. “And you are a smart little one, aren’t you?” He asked, and the tone in his voice, and the look in his eyes, somehow it scared her even more than the Hollows themselves.

“Yes, I have made the Hollows, and yes, I have sent them into your precious Great Valley.” He said, almost proudly, as he started to move his head, as if to look at the fast runner from all possible angles. All the while, ruby looked at him, and made sure to have him in her line of sight all the time. It was as if she didn’t wanted to break eye-contact with him, as if he could make something in the moment they weren’t looking at each other.

“It is amazing how you can turn your own emotions into something solid only by focusing hard enough, don’t you agree?” the horned sharptooth said, and he looked down at the fast runner, and he said, “Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Carnage. What is yours?”

Ruby didn’t answered, she only continued to look at him, and she asked, “What you want with Chomper?”

The bigger dinosaur looked down at her, and he only smirked, “This is between that little hatchling and me.”

“If you hurt him-” Ruby started, and Carnage could immediately recognize the threat forming into her beak, as he quickly cut her off.

“What?” He asked, almost lunging at her, what made many of the dinosaurs around her yelp and fall to the ground, but the fast runner herself didn’t really moved, even though the look in her eyes betrayed her fear. “What will you do if I get my claws and my teeth at that little thing? What will you do if I do what I am planning to do to him? Will you seek out for revenge? Will you hunt me down? Will you join that stupid Order and dedicate the rest of your life to destroy me and preventing me from fulfilling the noble destiny of all of sharpteeth everywhere?”

He was so close to her now that his snout and her beak were almost touching. Ruby continued to look at him, and she maintained a firm façade. However, Carnage could see the truth in her eyes. They were the eyes of someone who was scared and who felt impotent. The look of someone who knew that had no options and no resources, and that knew that couldn’t do anything about the current situation. He had already saw that look many times in his prey, and he knew that when he saw that look, the prey would not even bother to fight back, because they knew that there was absolutely nothing to be done.

That was very much the same case. The fast runner knew that there was nothing she could do, and yet, she wanted to be brave, she doesn’t wanted to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he had got her and left her completely cornered. Still, just one look in her eyes was enough for Carnage, and that kind of sensation was just one of the best things in the world for him.

He chuckled, and he raised his head, to look at the rest of the dinosaurs, who all whimpered and shrunk in fear. “Don’t worry.” He said, “I’m not going to kill you all… yet.” He said, and he added, “I’m still waiting for the honored guest. The little Chomper.”

Ruby tensed, and she would have raised her voice, if it wasn’t for a sound that filled the cave. It was sharp and it was something that easily called attention. It made all of the dinosaurs in there, including Carnage, stop and look around, and as they did, Carnage was able to open an even bigger smirk on his face.

“Talking about that… it seems that he has just arrived.”

* * *

True to Carnage’s words, as they were talking, Chomper was approaching the very entrance of the cave, with the flying Hollow guiding him in direction to it.

It was a great formation of rocks, which looked somehow like five heads; each one resembled the head of a certain kind of sharptooth. There was a fast biter, a bonecrusher sharptooth, a horned sharptooth, a bellydragger, and a swimmer sharptooth.

Chomper felt a sense of dread as he approached that place, each one of his instincts telling him to turn around and run as fast as he could. However, he knew that he couldn’t, not when Ruby and others were in danger. Even if he knew fully well that his life was in danger for being in there. Even after all the Order told about Carnage. Even if each one of his most basic instincts told him not to go in there. Chomper knew that he would never be able to turn his back on his friends like that.

So, the young blue sharptooth continued to walk forward, and as he did, he soon could spot other Hollows around. These ones looked a lot like two-crested sharpteeth, still, one good look at them was enough to know that they weren’t.

They were completely black in color, with eyes that were even blacker. They had blood-crimson claws in their feet and hands, and they looked around as Chomper passed, with the young sharptooth being able to notice that they had a bulbous space in their throats, as if there was something in there that made the thing bulge like that.

Chomper didn’t had much time to look at them, for he suddenly had his attention called by two of them. They were right in front of him, and for a moment, Chomper thought they were going to attack. However, instead, they only moved to his sides, and they looked at him, almost as if expectantly.

They were there to receive him, much like the Winged Creep.

Chomper sighed, and he started to walk forward, with the Hollows walking by his side, almost as if they were his scouts. They guided him to the base of the rock formation, in direction to the cave that was located in the base of it, and they guided him inside.

The inside of the cave was like a maze of tunnels and passages, and it would be very easy to get lost in there if you didn’t knew exactly the place. Luckily (or maybe not really) for Chomper, he was being guided by two Hollows who seemed like they truly knew the place they were taking him into. Enough to allow him to follow them across the tunnels and intersections of the place, and guide him deeper and deeper in direction to somewhere where Chomper knew they had been ordered to take him. As the time passed and they continued to take him deeper and deeper into the caves, Chomper felt the sense of dread in his heart growing more and more, as if he was walking to his own demise. However, he knew that right now he had no chance of turning around and running, even if he wanted.

The Hollows continued to guide Chomper deeper into the cave system, after a while, they started to arrive into a wider area of the caves, and soon, they arrived into a big area that was so big that Grandpa Longneck would easily fit in there without any problem.

The place was dark, but that was no problem for Chomper, once most sharpteeth could see fairly well in the darkness. He continued to walk in there as the Hollows continued to guide him into that big cave, and as they walked, Chomper could hear something bubbling.

They approached what seemed to be a pool, and Chomper thought that it would be some bubbling mud, or maybe bubbling goo. However, once he approached, he could see that the thing that was bubbling was pitch-black in color, and it seemed to move and contort on its own, creating small tendrils above the surface and even forming shapes, almost as if it was alive. Not only that, but the bubbling thing also emitted strange sounds, that sounded more like sounds made by dinosaurs. They seemed to be cries, whimpers, whines, and even sounds of anger.

Chomper had no idea of what that could be, but it gave him creeps.

“ _Interesting, ain’t it?_ ” A strong voice speaking in sharptooth snapped Chomper from his thoughts, as he immediately turned to the source of it, which as an approaching shape that was covered into the darkness. However, as the figure approached, it became easier for Chomper to see it, and he could make out all of the features of the creature that was coming to him, and which that he had no doubt that was no other than Carnage.

The sharptooth was clearly a horned sharptooth, and that was obvious by the two horns on his head, both black as the night without stars or Night Circle. He was all red, and for a moment, Chomper thought that he had blood on his claws and teeth, but he realized that they were only darker, splash-like markings on his scales. His talons were as black as his horns, and his eyes were yellow colored with slit-like black pupils. These kinds of pupils were sometimes saw on sharpteeth, but they usually only appeared in a sharptooth who was too focus in the hunt or battle. For a sharpteeth to have it when they were not hunting or fighting hard, they would have to be particularly vicious and cruel, if you believed into the night time scary stories that your parents told you.

All Chomper knew was, as that sharptooth approached him, and looked down at him, the smaller sharptooth could not help but feel a sense of fear and dread that rivalled the one caused by the Hollows themselves. There was just something about the look of that sharptooth, the way he looked at him, about his very semblance, which just screamed “danger”. Not even Red Claw gave him a feeling like that, and it was enough for Chomper to start to realize just how dangerous Carnage could actually be.

The sharptooth approached the smaller one, and he looked at him. He looked to be scared.

Good.

Carnage only looked at him for a few moments, before shifting his gaze to the pool of black goop.

“ _Years ago, before I was hatch, a group of leaf eaters got stuck in this cave trying to escape their hunters **.**_ ” Carnage spoke, and Chomper looked at him, “ _They were able to escape by sealing themselves into this cave, but later on, they discovered that they had trapped themselves in here. They could no longer find the way out and neither could they break the block that they had made themselves._ ”

“ _Well, what could you expect from leaf eaters? They basically only keep all of their time grazing; of course they wouldn’t learn to ratiocinate._ ” Carnage said that with a prepotency that made Chomper want to say something back at him, but the sharptooth continued talking. “ _Anyway, there was some green food in here at the time, but it was not enough for all of them. So, in just a few days, they started to turn on each other._ ”

“ _They killed each other out of hunger and anger, and each one that died only added to the anger they felt. Overtime, only two of them were left, and even then, the green stuff was only enough for both of them for a while. They too turned on each other, and soon, there was only one left behind._ ”

“ _He survived for a while eating the green stuff, but eventually, it all ended. He was left alone and hungry with all of the dead, and soon, when he realized what he had done, what they all had done, he was filled with guilty and grief. The deaths of every single one of his own herd was heavy in his mind and in his heart, and so, he ended up being drive into complete madness. He died in here, screaming loudly for the rest of his herd._ ”

Chomper felt a shiver as he heard that story, which seemed the kind of one that you would tell your hatchlings at night to make them behave. Carnage on the other hand, seemed to be completely unmoved by the story. “ _Leaf eaters are such wussies. They freak out by looking at blood and get feeling guilty for taking another life._ ”

Chomper looked up at him, and Carnage continued, “ _Anyway, they left this world, all of them, but what they felt impregnated the place. Their anger. Their sadness. Their despair. Their grief. It all cumulated in here all the time that the last leaf eater continued to live in here, and when he finally died, all of this leaked down straight at him._ ” Carnage gestured at the pool of black goop with his small arm. “ _Right in here, where he died, all of the emotions left behind cumulated, and formed this._ ”

Chomper looked back at the pool, bubbling and twisting, which seemed to be even scarier now that he had just heard the story behind it.

“ _It is amazing what the misfortune of others can produce, ain’t it?_ ” He asked, a smirk in his face as he looked down at the scared hatchling. “ _I have long learned how to control these things by using my own emotions. I just have to leak a little of my own hatred into there and let it mold the rest into something that will follow my orders. And to think that it all one day was a bunch of leaf eaters who made the stupid decision of trapping themselves into a place that they could not get out… well, their loss, my gain._ ”

The indifference… no, the _amusement_ in Carnage’s voice just made it clear how much consideration he had for the lives of others, and it gave Chomper a much better idea of how dangerous he actually was.

However, Chomper didn’t had time for his fear now. He came there for a reason:

“Where is Ruby?” The young sharptooth demanded in leaf eater language, causing Carnage to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Chomper stopped for a moment, and wondered if the sharptooth understood what he said, but he didn’t had time for this.

“ _I came here because of my friend!_ ” Chomper said again, this time in sharptooth, “ _Where is she and the others!?_ ”

In fact, Carnage could understand very well the leaf eater language, but he found it strange that the young sharptooth used it instead of their own nature language. However, hearing him speak in their own language had only caused the bigger sharptooth to cringe.

Young ones always had the more problem to speak the language, once they were unable to roar properly and resorted more to clicks and squeaks, still, they all were able to speak clearly in sharptooth as good as any sharptooth could. However, the way that the little one was talking, using his throat instead of the right areas, and the way that he was using inflexion, it made him sound less like a sharptooth, and more like a leaf eater trying to speak sharptooth language.

It was as if he lived with the leaf eaters so long that he actually started to forget how to speak the language of his own people. It made Carnage disgusted with the little sharptooth.

“ _Tell me where my friend is!_ ” The small sharptooth demanded to the bigger one. “ _I’m not kidding!_ ”

Carnage scowled. “ _This is the worse example I ever heard from the sharptooth language from another sharptooth! You sound like the grass munchers! It hurts me ears to hear it._ ” He spoke to Chomper, with an air annoyed and clearly superior. However, the little sharptooth didn’t had time for this, and neither he had the time to feel offended by what the bigger sharptooth said to him clearly with this purpose. What had brought him there was much more important than that.

“ _WHERE. IS. RUBY!?_ ” Chomper demanded loudly, his voice echoing into the cave and into each tunnel and wall around him. Carnage only looked down at him, seeing the look of fierce determination on his face; it looked like the boy was ready to go into a fight with him if it was any need.

Of course, this was not enough to make Carnage have any form of respect for him, but it seemed to be enough for him to consider that maybe, just _maybe_ , that little pipsqueak was not a complete disgrace to the sharpteeth.

“ _Follow me._ ” Carnage said to Chomper, as he gave him his back, and started to walk away, in direction to another cave into the opposite corner of the room. Chomper just looked at him walking, the bigger sharptooth stopped and looked over his shoulder, at the smaller dinosaur, and he growled. “ _Do you want to see your fast runner babysitter or not?_ ”

Chomper took a while to move, but soon, he was walking behind Carnage, struggling to keep pace with him. All the while, Carnage continued to walk ahead, as if he didn’t even bothered if Chomper would be able to follow him or not.

All the while, they passed by other caves, and other tunnels, and more than once, Chomper caught himself looking over his own shoulder, as he had the strange but very insistent feeling that he was being followed.

Carnage continued to guide him through the tunnel, in direction to another part of that maze, and soon, Chomper saw himself arriving into another open area inside the maze, much like the one with the black bubbling pool, but this one had a group of dinosaurs surrounded by many Hollows. All of the Hollows were circling the group, and they were snarling and snapping their jaws as if they were inviting them to do anything that would give them the excuse to rip them apart.

Chomper looked at the group of leaf eaters, and between them, he saw a familiar face.

“RUBY!” The young sharptooth called out, making the whole group raise their heads and look at him, as he was immediately running in direction to the fast runner.

“Chomper!?” Ruby let out the exclamation, and as Chomper was running, some of the group expected the Hollows to get on his way or even to attack him. However, the Hollows instead stepped aside, as if they were opening way to the small sharptooth, and let him run into the arms of his fast runner friend.

“Ruby! I’m so glad to see you again!” Chomper said, barely able to contain the tears of happiness and relief that he had for being able to see and hug Ruby once more. The fast runner was crying too, however, these were not tears of happiness.

“Chomper…” She said to him, as she hugged him hard. “Why did you came?” She asked, and as they both hugged, Carnage walked into their direction.

“ _What a touching scene._ ” Carnage said, “ _Two dear friends meeting each other again, and being able to feel each other’s touch and kindness one more time before both of them met their inevitable end_.” He spoke, making the other dinosaurs all look at him. They all looked scared, but only Chomper was able to understand what Carnage said, so he was more scared than the others. “ _So touching, it almost makes me feel sorry for you… almost._ ”

“Hey!” Chomper cried out, and then he started to snarl at him in sharptooth. “ _You said you would let us go!_ ”

“ _And why would I keep a promise like that?_ ” Carnage asked, matter-of-factly, to the smaller sharptooth.

Chomper felt fear rising from his gut into his throat, and right then, right there, he could kick himself for being so stupid as if to feel for that and to believe into the world of a sharptooth like that.

“ _Why are you doing this?_ ” Chomper demanded of him “ _WHY!?_ ” and Carnage just chuckled.

“ _Why not?_ ” He asked to the smaller sharptooth. “ _Why not assume the place that would be rightfully ours? Why not put these stupid creatures in their right place, that is beneath us to serve as our food? Why not assume our rightful place as the true rulers of this world? After all, we are the strongest and fiercest creatures that have ever lived, and all of the leaf eaters are afraid of us. So, it is only natural that we would be the ones who should be in control, right?_ ”

The way that Carnage talked; the coldness in his voice, the sureness in his eyes, and the expression in his face. All of these things would tell anyone that he truly did believed, with every fiber of his being, that the words that he was speaking were true. As if they were some undeniable truth that the only way of not perceiving was if you were the most stupid individual in the world.

Chomper saw all of that, even though he was still just a child, and he could finally realize how crazy Carnage was. Of course, maybe the way that he saw the world was not so different from sharpteeth like Red Claw and some other sharptooth around. Still, that didn’t change at all the meaning of what was being said in that, and he saw that surely there was no way of being able to reason with that sharptooth, and there was no way that he would have kept his promise of letting them all go.

Chomper now felt like a rock head for not having predicted that this would happen, and that was the reason why the Order warned him not to go in there. He should have listened to them…

“ _Now, enough of this talking. I hope you have had enough time to say goodbye to your friend._ ” Carnage said, his eyes shining in a predatory and murderous way, and with that, he raised a tiny arm, and snapped his tiny claws.

Immediately, the Hollows around them started to snarl and to snap their jaws. The dinosaurs around all gasped as they started to huddle together. Even Chomper shared their reaction, and he started to back away to the middle of the group, stopping very close to Ruby.

The fast runner immediately crouched and put her arms around him, as the Hollows were approaching more and more, looking vicious and thirsty for blood. Of course, their mindless and savage appearance was nothing compared to the look of sadistic glee that Carnage had in his face, as he saw that little pipsqueak and the rest of the dinosaurs in there in fear. He seemed to be eager to see them being jump into and teared into pieces; in fact, he was nearly salivating as he was looking forward to seeing their blood.

Chomper looked around him fear, as he clung into the arms of Ruby, who was protecting him with her own body, even though she knew that it would be ultimately useless.

“Ruby…”

“Chomper… don’t look…” Ruby said, unable to hold back the few tears that were coming out of her eyes due to fear and sadness. She held Chomper closer to her body, to have even the slightest illusion that she could protect him against these monsters.

The Hollows continued to snarl, and after a few moments, they all jumped into the group that was being held captive. Immediately, all of the ones in that group closed their eyes and got ready to feel the claws on their bodies.

However…

“ ** _Fire Breath!_** ”

“ ** _Light Roar!_** ”

Immediately, a stream of fire and a beam of light sailed through the air. The flame burned the Hollows into a crisp into the air. The beam moved across the air like a laser, and sliced through the Hollows like a hot knife cutting through butter, and the pieces decomposed into black dust and vanished before they had even touched the ground.

“ _WHAT!?!_ ” Carnage roared in surprise, the dinosaurs of the group, once realizing that the Hollows had not attacked them, opened their eyes, and they saw that the creatures had been attack and reduced to dust. The ones that were left were looking away from them, and as soon as the others followed their gaze…

“Littlefoot!?” Chomper and Ruby both said, as their Longneck friend was now standing there, with Swift right by his side. Both of them were with their respective amulets glowing, and their faces had determined expressions on their faces.

* * *

**_ERLIER_ **

“What are we going to do!? What are we going to do!?” Petrie said as he flew around, very desperate, and the others actually were not much better.

Chomper had just vanished, and he was going, surely to meet Carnage and, as the Order well knew, his own demise.

“Oh, I don’t want Chomper to die! No, no, no!” Ducky said, and Nettle agreed with her.

“That can’t happen! This is all my fault! I should have watched him better!”

“Yeah, that much is truth.” Swift said, causing Uri to give him a glare, which Swift ignored. “But this does not matter now. I think we all know what he need to do.”

The other dinosaurs shared looks, and looked back at Swift. None of them said a single word as they did that. Swift fought the urge to slap his own forehead with his hand.

“I believe that what Swift means is that we need to proceed with the plan.” Terry finally said, and the others looked at him.

“Thank you.”

“What plan is that?” Cera asked, and who answered was that new dinosaur, the big fast biter was the one to answer.

“Well, I guess that the plan is to use this.” He said, showing the bag filled with white sand.

“How sand is going to help?”

“Like I said, this is no ordinary sand.” Swift said, he picked the bag from Ripto’s hand, and he turned to Littlefoot. “So, Chomper is already gone, but I can still track him. We gotta go now or we might lose his trail for good.”

Littlefoot just nodded, and all of his friends of the Great Valley looked at him. Littlefoot noticed that, and he assured them. “I’m going to save Chomper. Don’t worry.” He spoke, and turned to Terry and the others, “Make sure to reach us in time.” Then he turned to Swift. “Let’s go!”

Swift nodded, and immediately, Swift and Littlefoot dashed, leaving the others behind.

“Be careful!” Petrie said.

“Keep an eye open for the Hollows!” Uri said.

“We will reach you in time! We’ll be right behind you!” Ripto called out with a potent voice.

Terry didn’t said words aloud to the departing dinosaurs, instead preferring to make a small silence prayer for them, asking the spirits to look out for them, and give them the strength and courage needed to be able to fulfill their mission.

* * *

Littlefoot was running in front, guiding him into the Secret caves were Chomper and Ruby sleep.

Once they arrived, Swift immediately started to sniff the place, aiming to capture Chomper’s scent. That was a good point on being a sharptooth, once you had a naturally keen sense of smell that server for you to search for and find prey in the wild, and it was useful to find your friends and your herd.

Right now, it would be useful for them to be able to find Chomper before it was too late. Good thing that Chomper had left not too long ago, and the trail he left was still fresh. That maximized Swift’s capacity to track him down in time.

Swift snorted, and he looked ahead, his pupils becoming vertical slits as he allowed his instincts to take control. “This way.” He said, his voice sounding more like a snarl than actual words, and he dashed forward. Littlefoot immediately went to run after him.

Swift dashed across the secret caves, letting the scent and his own predatory instincts guide him across that maze of tunnels. He seemed much like a sharptooth of the wild chasing a prey, and that was pretty much the principle of what he was doing, since that was what his own instincts were based. He was barely even thinking now. He was only responding to the trail that was guiding him in direction to his goal.

Turn left. Turn right. Move straight ahead. The trail is gone. Stop. Sniff. Here is the trail. Follow it. Run faster. Stop a moment. Sniff to be sure. Follow the trail. Turn left. Turn right. Turn right again. Keep moving forward. Do not lose the trail.

As Swift moved, Littlefoot had to make a little effort to be able to keep up with his speed. He almost had to resort to using the power of his **_Bright Power_** to be able to follow the bladeback, who was moving ahead in full “predator mode”. It was something that all sharpteeth seemed to have naturally written in their instincts, as part of the way that they developed to hunt, something that seemingly came from the transformation of the seventh brother into the first sharptooth.

When they were like that, they were program not to think and only doing what their most primitive instincts told them. That was something impressive to see, and it could be somewhat terrifying, if you were fighting one of them in battle.

They moved for a while and, after sometime, they were able to reach the outside of these caves. Swift was the first one to emerge into the Mysterious Beyond, and Littlefoot came right behind. However, the longneck still had to run to keep up with him, once the bladeback was not giving him much attention.

Here is the trail. Is fresh. Sniff it. Be sure. It is the trail. Follow it. Run. Go after. Chase!

Swift dashed into the place much like a missile, still holding the bag of leaves filled with white sand on his arms. Littlefoot needed to use much of his strength and natural skills to be able to follow him. This time, he had to resort to his magic. He didn’t summon his **_Bright Power_** , but he needed to call the power of his amulet to drop some magic in him, which would allow his body to work better than normal. That was a natural function that all of the amulets had, and using it was one of the first things that the members of the Order learned how to do. This allowed them to call forth the power of the amulets to be able to fulfill better some duties that they would normally be unable to fulfill. Of course, the amount of power that was granted by this functions was not nearly as much power as the strengthening techniques, like Littlefoot’s **_Bright Power_** and Swift’s **_Heat Booster_** , but it was enough to be able to work better in certain situations, and it didn’t consume as much energy as these techniques.

For Littlefoot, it was enough for now. He just needed to keep up with Swift, and he needed to save his energy for the moment when they would have to clash with Carnage and his Hollows. Littlefoot knew that the moment _was_ going to come, and that they would need all of their power to be able to face it.

Swift continued to dash across the landscapes. He jumped over rocks. Circled great formations. Jumped down cliffs. Climbed up hills. All the while with Littlefoot right behind him, being able to follow the bladeback surprisingly well, considering the clear difference between the two of them.

They continued going, as the bright circle moved across the sky. They continued on their quest, and Littlefoot was just hoping that they would be able to find Chomper before it was too late…

And he was answered.

After a while, Swift stopped just behind a boulder, and he was looking over the corner of the boulder. Littlefoot finally could approach him, and as he came closer, he saw that the bladeback was panting as he looked around the corner, and he seemed like a predator sneaking on the prey after a long chase.

Littlefoot looked up to him, and he could see his face as he panted. The sharptooth was nearly snarling as he took deep and feral breaths, and as he recovered his breath, he was calming down, and after a while, he took a final, silent breath, closing his eyes. He let out the final breath and opened his eyes. Those had changed back from their vertical slits into the regular round pupils that you mostly saw when sharpteeth when they were not in their predator mode.

Littlefoot continued to look up, and Swift sighed as he looked over the corner.

“There he is.” Swift said, and Littlefoot thought that he maybe knew what the bladeback meant by that.

Approaching, Littlefoot looked over the corner of the rock, and after a few seconds of scanning, he was able to see a familiar blue shape. It was Chomper, and he was struggling a little to be able to climb into a small cliff.

By seeing his sharptooth friend, Littlefoot felt a rush of relief and happiness wash over him. He could hardly put in words how happy he felt for seeing that Chomper was okay and that he had not gotten hurt in his own particular quest. In fact, Littlefoot was about to rush to him to talk to him, but Swift stopped him by blocking his path with one of his legs.

Littlefoot looked up at the bladeback, who looked back at him, and then made a gesture with his head, indicating the longneck to look up.

Littlefoot did just that, and he was able to sight a black form in the sky right above Chomper.

A Winged Creep.

Littlefoot felt a knot tying in his stomach as he saw that thing, flying around like a dark messenger, and he immediately felt a wish to shoot it down on the spot. However, he knew that it would be a bad idea. He had soon came to the same conclusion as Swift: that the thing was in there to scout Chomper to the place where he was expected to go and to make sure that he was not being followed, just like Carnage had demanded of him.

If they struck it down, or if the thing sighted them, it would probably just let Carnage know that they had tried to defend him, and that would spell certain doom for Ruby and the other prisoners. Not that Carnage actually planned to let them go back home, anyways, as he probably didn’t.

Anyways, now it was too late to follow with their original plan of following Chomper since the beginning.

“What do we do now?” Littlefoot asked.

“We go along with the plan.” Swift said, and he showed the lead bag to the longneck by his side. “We use this to follow him without anyone knowing that we are there.”

Littlefoot looked at him, and he looked back at Chomper, who was still going ahead, with the Hollow above him watching intently his every move. Littlefoot knew that he could not let Chomper deliver himself to Carnage like that, for the results would be terrible. He knew that he had to protect Chomper and save everyone, and he was willing to do it on the best way he could. Right then, right there, the best way was to follow his own plan.

Littlefoot looked back at Swift, and he nodded.

Soon, both longneck and bladeback were coming closer to each other, and Swift soon was opening the back, unraveling it until it was just a leaf with sand cupped inside of it.

Right after, he made a move upwards, sending the sand in the air, and letting it cascade down on him and Littlefoot.

The sand sparkled in the air, as it seemed to vanish, leaving behind only sparkling dots that covered both longneck and bladeback. The dots covered them as they kept sparkling, and after a second or two, it seemed like they were making the shapes of the longneck and bladeback become more indistinct and less material, as they became translucent, and soon, they both had vanished.

They vanished, but they were still there.

That sand that they just used was no regular sand. It was a very special thing that was call “Disappearing Sand”.

This was a special kind of sand that you couldn’t find in just anywhere, and which had a special kind of magic to that. If the sands were sprawled over something, it would drain away the color and image of the thing, covering it into a layer that would prevent it from being perceive by regular sight.

In other words, it made things turn invisible. As it just had done for the two dinosaurs of the Order.

Littlefoot and Swift were still side-by-side, and they looked at each other. Due to both being under the effect of the sand, they could see it other as being translucent, however, everyone else would not be able to see them at all. They both knew that, and they both were intending to use that to their maximum advantage.

“Let’s go now.” Swift said to the longneck in a whisper “Remember not to make any sound, do you hear?”

Littlefoot nodded at him, and soon, they both were using their newly acquired invisibility to follow Chomper.

Since they vanished from sight, they were able to walk in the open without being see by the Winged Creep that was flying just above Chomper. However, they could still be heard, so they had to remain silent as they moved and make sure not letting any other sign of their presence to be noticed. For instance, the footprints they could make in soft earth or mud, and small pebbles kicked away by their paws.

Not to mention that the layer of invisibility was not very strong, what meant that any strong action or any impact could shatter it, causing the effects of the disappearing sand to end and making them appear once more. Therefore, they had to be careful while they moved.

Luckily, they had both been train in this thing of approaching without being notice, and they were both particularly good at it. The fact that they could still perceive each other helped him, for they could remain close and didn’t risked bumping or tripping on each other on their way. They could as well each help the other to approach without being notice.

So, they were able to follow without anyone realizing that they were following. Neither the Winged Creep. Nor Chomper.

They continued for a while, the Bright Circle was still moving across the sky, and this was now starting to change colors, indicating the passage of time. After a while, both Littlefoot and Swift were starting to get worried about taking so long to find the right path.

However, they soon saw the place where they would have to arrive. The great rock that looked like heads of sharpteeth. It was the place where Carnage was hiding.

The invisible longneck and bladeback shared a look, and swift nodded. He touched his own amulet, which started to emit a very soft glow. Soon, they both continued to follow Chomper, as the young sharptooth, unaware he had bodyguards with him, was entering the cave.

On their way inside, they passed by these hollows.

Spitters.

These were a particular kind of Hollow that was usually created with the goal of watching over a single place and attacking anything or anyone that came way too close. These Hollows had the ability to spit out a black water that was a liquid version of the black material that usually formed all of the Hollows. The thing that they spit was highly poisonous, and it was able to bring down big dinosaurs in a matter of time. They usually aimed for the eyes, so they could blind and poison the targets all at once. After that, if the victim was still alive, they attacked all at once.

Swift bared his teeth into a silent snarl at these creatures as he passed by them, but he was still careful not to make a single sound, and so was Littlefoot. Luckily, these creatures relied more on sight and hearing to detect their victims, and as a result, they didn’t trust in other senses to be able to find threats.

As they moved, they could still see Chomper ahead. One spitter was guiding him, and they both let them move ahead of them. Still, they followed close enough to be able to keep Chomper on their sight, so they could quickly reach out for him in the moment that he was in danger.

They followed him across the maze of tunnels that was Carnage’s lair. They followed the best they could, making sure to be silent and to avoid breaking their layer of invisibility, and after a while, they finally were able to see the end of that tunnel. It was the place where Chomper had was lead to, and left to wait by the sharptooth who was behind that.

They remained at a certain distance as Chomper approached that pool, and they both could feel the evil that emanated from it. Littlefoot had an urge to rush to Chomper and pull him away from that. However, that urge soon was replace by the urge to attack in the moment that he noticed Carnage’s presence in that place, and saw him approaching Chomper.

They were present during the speech that Carnage made for Chomper. Swift could understand every single word of what he said. Littlefoot was not so fluent in the sharptooth language, but he learned it as part of his lessons in the Order, and while he had not dominated it completely, he had learned enough to be able to pick up the general idea of what Carnage was saying.

They watched nervous as that big dinosaur was too close to Chomper for their own taste, and they both were just itching to go into action.

“Should we attack now?” Littlefoot whispered, trying to avoid letting Carnage hear them, and hoping that the big sharptooth would not be able to pick up their scent either.

“Not yet.” Swift said to him, as he flexed his claws on his hands. “If he escapes, or if he has time to order his Hollows, they will kill the hostages before we can find them. We need to know where the others are first.”

Littlefoot knew that he was right, and that they had to save everyone else as well as Chomper. This meant that they had to lay low for now. However, he knew that he was going to jump into action in the moment he believed that Chomper was in danger. He also knew that Swift was thinking about the same thing too.

They continued to watch, and they saw when Chomper decided to stand up for him, not showing any fear of the big sharptooth. Swift could not help but be admired by the great bravery that the young sharptooth was showing in the moment when he needed to be brave.

Chomper was a shy dinosaur. He was very gentle and kind of goofy. Qualities that were hard to find in most sharpteeth nowadays, even the young ones. This also made him quite sacredly at sometimes, as he was not inclined to combats and to the bloodshed that usually was part of the lives of the sharpteeth who grew up in places like the Mysterious Beyond.

Still, in this moment, when someone he truly cared about was in danger, he was able to stand his ground against someone much bigger than himself and terribly dangerous, as if his own fear was nothing when compared to the desire to save the person who he cared so much about.

This made Swift admire that young sharptooth and, on his own eyes, made Chomper all the much more worth of being called the sharptooth of the prophecy.

They saw what happened right after, with Carnage telling Chomper to follow him, and the two hidden members of the Order shared a look among themselves. Soon, Chomper was following Carnage, and the two members of the Order were going right behind.

They saw the ones who were being keep as prisoners by Carnage. They saw Chomper reuniting with Ruby. They heard the speech that Carnage made to Chomper, Swift was grinding his teeth hard in anger for hearing that thing. They saw when the Hollows jumped at the others. They immediately went into action.

“ ** _Bright Roar!_** ”

“ ** _Fire Breath!_** ”

With their magical attacks, the layer of invisibility was disrupt, and both dinosaurs became visible again, making it seem like they had magically materialized into place, both into fighting position, what surprised everyone who was around.

“ _What is this!? How you entered- That’s impossible!_ ” Carnage said, not having expected this at all. Meanwhile, the two dinosaurs only looked back at him, and Littlefoot stepped forward, as he seemed ready to pounce.

“No one attacks my friends!”

 


End file.
